Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Buhl man gets 5 years for assault

Judge denies leniency plea due to lengthy record


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Timothy Ray Votroubek

A Buhl man registered as a sex offender in Twin Falls County was sentenced to five years in prison Monday for threatening his girlfriend with a hammer during an altercation last summer in Blaine County.

Fifth District Court Judge Robert J. Elgee gave 30-year-old Timothy Ray Votroubek a two-year fixed and three-year indeterminate prison sentence on convictions of felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor battery. Votroubek pleaded guilty to the charges in January in exchange for dismissal of felony charges of attempted strangulation and being a persistent violator, a crime punishable in Idaho by up to life in prison.

Elgee rejected pleas for leniency by Votroubek and defense attorney Christopher Simms, who told the judge his client was abused physically and sexually as a child.

Simms said Votroubek suffers from mental illness and that his crimes are mainly attributable to alcoholism. He asked Elgee to place Votroubek in the "rider" program, wherein convicted felons are given a six-month opportunity for rehabilitation, usually at the North Idaho Correctional Facility at Cottonwood.

"I don't think you have a violent person in front of us," Simms said. "He couldn't leave the alcohol behind because that was the only thing putting a Band-Aid on his injuries."

Elgee instead followed a recommendation from the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

"The rider program is tempting, but in view of your prior record, I don't think the rider program is going to be sufficient," Elgee said. "The only thing that seems to break this cycle is jail."

According to Idaho court records, Votroubek has a 2009 misdemeanor DUI conviction in Twin Falls County and two felony convictions in Gooding County, one for grand theft in 1998 and the other for statutory rape in 2000.

He also has two pending DUI charges against him in Twin Falls County, one for an arrest on Aug. 6 and the other for an arrest on Aug. 18. The second one is charged as a felony.

The Blaine County charges resulted from a fight between Votroubek and his girlfriend on July 13 at a campground near the Sawtooth National Recreation Area headquarters north of Ketchum.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback told the court at Monday's hearing that Votroubek went on a drinking rampage around the time of the fight, sometimes consuming up to two gallons of vodka a day.

"I'm surprised he could even function, let alone drive," Fredback said. "The only reason he was stopped was because he was incarcerated."

Votroubek told the judge that he is trying to solve the problems in his life.

"I'm sorry for the choices I've made," Votroubek said. "I ask for the opportunity for treatment before throwing me in prison."

Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com




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