Five felonies net 180-day jail sentence

COEUR d’ALENE — A 35-year-old former volunteer firefighter and Army veteran who punched his girlfriend, breaking her eye socket, and head-butted a sheriff’s deputy after an argument in a boat on Lake Coeur d’Alene will serve 180 days in jail.

Kanon M. Charbonneau — who was arrested in August 2017 for five felonies including assaulting a police officer, domestic battery, attempted strangulation, second-degree kidnapping and grand theft, as well as three misdemeanors including DUI, malicious injury to property, and destruction of a telecommunications device — will serve time in the Kootenai County jail as part of a suspended prison sentence.

After listening to an argument from prosecutors that Charbonneau should go to prison, First District Judge Scott Wayman on Monday sentenced the Spokane man to up to six years behind bars for three felonies. The others had been dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Wayman, however, suspended the sentence and ordered three years probation and local jail time.

A presentence report, which included a psychiatric evaluation, criminal history and sentencing recommendation, showed Charbonneau had no criminal history, rarely drank and lacked a background of violent behavior before engaging in a fistfight with his 37-year-old girlfriend while boating with friends.

Deputy prosecutor Rebecca Perez said Charbonneau’s actions were so violent and he was so filled with determination to harm his live-in girlfriend that he beat the woman in the open, in front of spectators and the police.

“It wasn’t a deterrent that there were other people in the boat,” Perez said. “It wasn’t a deterrent that she resisted. It wasn’t a deterrent that there were people watching in public.”

Or, that a deputy tried to stop the fight that continued on shore at 4:30 p.m. near the Cedars Floating Restaurant, Perez said.

“The defendant was so determined,” she said. “He didn’t care who was watching.”

The victim suffered black eyes, a broken orbital, contusions and lacerations. A deputy who tried arresting Charbonneau was struck down by the defendant and didn’t gain control of Charbonneau until the victim began beating Charbonneau with a police baton she retrieved from the patrol car.

Charbonneau, who served in the Army National Guard and as a reserve firefighter in Spokane after graduating from high school in Springdale, Wash., worked as an auto body repairman, a fitness coach, and in the construction fields since he bonded out of the Kootenai County jail after serving 44 days.

In addition, Charbonneau completed a 52-week domestic violence course, passed more than 70 urinalysis tests and complied with all the conditions of his release, said his attorney, Carl J. Oreskovich of Spokane.

Oreskovich said the event leading to his client’s arrest was “an aberration of his character,” and that Charbonneau was portrayed as gentle, generous, hardworking and kind, by employers, family members and friends.

Wayman’s sentence included 100 hours of community service, paying fines, fees, court costs and restitution to the victim, a 90-day driver’s license suspension, and between three and six years in prison if Charbonneau reoffends.