Kalispell casino robber given two-year sentence

Kalispell casino robber given two-year sentence
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Daily Inter Lake

The 20-year-old Kalispell man who robbed a casino runner at gunpoint was sentenced Thursday in Flathead District Court to two years in jail plus eight years suspended.

Jesus Din pleaded guilty to felony robbery Feb. 23 for the crime at the West Idaho Street Lucky Lil’s Casino last Dec. 1.

Din’s plea agreement stipulated a sentence of five years in jail and five years suspended, but District Judge Katherine Curtis chose to issue the lighter sentence.

“It was just a decision of hanging out with friends, the idea [of the robbery] came up and everybody thought it was a good idea,” Din said at his sentencing.

Din explained that he originally was not the person who was going to commit the robbery, but the other person got scared and he decided to do it.

Kyser Nelson, 19, Kalispell, recently was given a three-year deferred sentence on a felony charge of accountability to robbery for driving Din to and from the casino and providing him with the gun he used in the crime.

The robbery sentence marks the latest chapter in Din’s criminal history.

Din was convicted of a narcotics-related felony the day before his 18th birthday and was on probation for one year.

He then was convicted of one offense of driving under the influence, a hit-and-run accident in which he struck another vehicle and being a minor in possession of alcohol.

All those offenses occurred while he was living in San Diego.

During his testimony before the sentence was handed down Thursday, Din admitted he is currently on court-ordered probation until 2016 and still has $800 in fees to pay on those prior crimes.

He moved to Kalispell around Oct. 1, 2011, and committed the robbery roughly 60 days later.