District Court June 18, 2020

BROKEN BOW – In Custer County District Court June 18, Thomas Pierce, 36, of Arnold received a sentence of 182 days in the Custer County Jail, with credit for those 182 days served, followed by nine months probation. He was also ordered to pay $220 in restitution. He was found guilty to Theft-unlawful taking $1,500-4,999, a Class 4 Felony. Two other counts were dropped.

Sentencing has been continued to July 2 at 10 a.m. for Mitchell Burnett, 48, of Oconto. Burnett was found guilty of Theft-unlawful taking $1,500-4,999, a Class 4 Felony. Two charges of forgery and another charge of theft were dropped. Burnett was charged in 2017 in connection with checks written on the Victoria Township checking account and signing someone else’s name while on the board for the township.

Sam Payton, 41, of Callaway, was sentenced to 364 days in county jail with credit for four days served after being found guilty of Domestic Assault in the Third Degree, a Class 3 Felony. Two other counts, strangulation and child abuse, were dropped. Payton also received 18 month post-release probation.

David Skeels, 57, of Broken Bow was sentenced to 90 days in county jail. On Jan. 23, he was found guilty of Count 1 Motor Vehicle Homicide, a Class 3A felony; Count II - Criminal Attempt - Second Degree Assault, a Class 3A Felony and County IV - Reckless Driving, a Class 3 misdemeanor. He was also sentenced to five years of probation for two separate counts and two years of probation for a third count, all to be served concurrently. On Oct. 23, 2018, Skeels was driving a Kenworth semi-tractor and trailer eastbound on Cumro Road when he failed to stop the truck at the intersection with Hwy 183. The semi struck a 2005 Dodge pickup, killing the passenger, Brandon Massman, 22, of South Dakota, and injuring the driver, Wyatt Torticill, then 43, also of South Dakota.

Timothy Murphy-Martinez, 30, of Fruita, Colo., received three years probation. He was found guilty on Jan. 23 of Criminal Attempt, a Class 2A Felony.

Airen Popham, 36, of Broken Bow pled guilty as part of a plea agreement for amended charges. Possession of a controlled substance, a Class 2 Felony, was amended to Delivery/distribution of a controlled substance - schedule 1,2,3, a Class 2A Felony. Two other charges were dropped. Popham agreed to enter the North Central Nebraska Problem Solving Court Program. Sentencing is deferred upon completion of the program.

The court granted a motion to continue the hearing on revoking probation for Yonliher Toirac Magna until July 16.