Sex offender's sentence revoked for third time

A Kalispell man was sentenced to 15 years in prison, all suspended, after his 2003 sentence for sexual assault was revoked for the third time.

In re-sentencing Joseph Mihalko on Feb. 20, Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison credited Mihalko for actual time served and re-imposed probation conditions from 2003.

Judge Allison last saw Mihalko in court on May 30, 2013, when Mihalko’s sentence was revoked for the second time. Allison gave Mihalko the same sentence at that time.

Failing to abide by his probation requirements has been Mihalko’s undoing. He was initially charged in April 2002 with three felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent and a misdemeanor count of sexual assault after four women accused him of inappropriately touching them while he massaged them at his bed and breakfast establishment in Coram. He initially faced from 2 to 100 years if convicted.

Following a plea agreement, the charges were amended to a single felony count of sexual assault. Judge Katherine Curtis sentenced Mihalko in May 2003 to 20 years in prison, all suspended, six months in the county jail, a $500 fine and sex offender evaluation.

Soon after getting out of the county jail, however, probation officers began tallying up Mihalko’s violations and had him arrested. Mihalko continued to violate his probation conditions in 2006, as he battled with alcohol addiction.

Judge Curtis revoked Mihalko’s sentence in May 2006 and re-sentenced him to 20 years in prison with 15 suspended. He was paroled on April 3, 2008.

During the next four years, according to probation reports, Mihalko never held a job for more than six weeks. He was fired from McDonald’s after failing a breathalyzer test. A probation officer described Mihalko’s adjustment as “half-hearted.”

Mihalko faced revocation again last May after he showed up drunk for a high school concert in February. The college-educated former engineer and bed and breakfast owner found himself back at the beginning again.

About five months after his second revocation, probation officers reported that Mihalko continued to fail breathalyzer tests — he allegedly admitted his drink of preference was mouthwash. He was also kicked out of his sex offender class because he couldn’t stay sober and didn’t keep up with the fees.

The county attorney’s office filed a petition to revoke his sentence for the third time in October.