Man sentenced in deputy shooting

By Cameron Rasmusson
Reader Staff

A man convicted of shooting two Bonner County sheriff’s deputies was sentenced this week to 50 years in prison.

KREM 2 News reports that Adam Foster, 32, who pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder, will serve 25 years fixed and 25 years indeterminate. The charges stem from a January 2017 altercation in Blanchard, where Foster fired upon sheriff’s deputies Michael R. Gagnon, Justin M. Penn and William T. Craffey after they attempted to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. The attack wounded Gagnon and Penn.

In court, the defense said that Foster suffered from paranoid delusions, leading him to believe he was being targeted by violent racists, KREM 2 reports. However, Gagnon, Penn and their family also testified to their struggles recovering physically and mentally from the attack. Both are recovered and back to work. 

In weighing both sides of the case, First District Judge Barbara Buchanan ultimately pronounced a more lenient sentence with the possibility of parole due to the mental health issues in play.