Court affirms sentences

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Court of Appeals is affirming the sentences handed down to a former Bonner County man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2004 and burglarizing a doctor’s home the following year.

Ronald Anthony Gillispie was ordered to serve 15-25 years in prison after entering into a plea agreement which downgraded the sexual assault charge and dismissed other charges related to the two criminal cases.

After he was sentenced in 2006, Gillispie tried to withdraw his pleas and secure a lesser punishment. Both efforts were rejected by the district court.

Gillispie, according to documents in 1st District Court, argued former Deputy Prosecutor Jim Stow had agreed to recommend that jurisdiction be retained in his cases, which could have limited his imprisonment to as little as six months. He further argued that District Judge Steve Verby was party to the agreement and violated the pact by imposing a lengthy prison term.

Gillispie also appealed to the higher court, contending his sentence was unduly harsh and that Verby should have granted his plea for leniency.

The appeals court, however, affirmed Gillispie’s sentence and the denial of his motion for leniency, according to an unpublished March 31 opinion.

“Upon review of the record, we conclude no abuse of discretion has been shown,” Chief Judge Karen Lansing, and judges Darrel Perry and David Gratton said in the ruling.

Gillispie, 33, allegedly bluffed his way into a woman’s Sandpoint apartment by pretending to be a law officer, where he raped and sodomized the woman. While that case was pending, Gillispie was charged with burglarizing a Sandpoint physician’s home while the man was vacationing with his family. When confronted by a deputy, Gillispie allegedly tried to pass himself off as the doctor.

In an agreement with the state, the rape charge was amended to aggravated battery and the sodomy charge was dismissed. In the later case, Gillispie pleaded guilty to burglary and a grand theft charge was dismissed, court records indicate.

Gillispie is imprisoned at the Idaho Correctional Center in Kuna, Idaho Department of Correction records indicate. He is eligible for parole in 2019.