Plea entered in perjury case

SANDPOINT - A Sandpoint man charged with perjury for allegedly giving false testimony during his trial on a felony drunken-driving charge last year is pleading guilty.

Robert Larry Tweet entered an Alford plea to the felony charge earlier this month. Under such a plea, a defendant admits no wrongdoing but concedes that sufficient evidence exists to obtain a conviction.

Judges in Idaho treat an Alford plea no differently than a regular plea of guilty when a defendant is sentenced.

Tweet, 61, faces up to 14 years in prison when he is sentenced in 1st District Court in March. However, a proposed plea agreement would result in a suspended prison sentence, court documents indicate.

Tweet was accused of lying to jurors when he took the stand at his trial on Nov. 12, 2008. Tweet was arrested at his home for driving under the influence the previous June. A witness told Sandpoint Police he left another home in a vehicle and was intoxicated.

Tweet, according to court documents, denied being behind the wheel and told jurors he started walking home. He testified encountering a blond-haired jogger named Skip who agreed to give him a lift home for $35.

Jurors, however, did not buy Tweet's defense and convicted him of the DUI charge. It was his third such conviction, court records show.

Tweet is scheduled to be sentenced on the DUI charge next month in district court.