Coeur d'Alene man sent to prison for battery

A Coeur d'Alene man will serve 10 years in prison with parole eligibility a year after being found guilty of felony domestic battery in the presence of a child.

Ryan Tyson Gillespie, 50, was sentenced Thursday by District Judge Barry McHugh.

The charges stemmed from an incident May 16 according to a press release from the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office. 

"During the incident, officers learned that Gillespie threw a milk-filled baby bottle at the victim, punched her in the face and hip area, and grabbed her wrist/arm," the release said. 

The incident caused injuries including bruising and swelling to the victim's eye, a laceration to her nose, a swollen and bruised lip, redness to her arm, bruising to her back and an open cut to her head, the release said.

Gillespie had been on felony probation for about six months for unlawful possession of fentanyl in 2023.

Gillespie had previously been convicted of battery in 2022 for offending on the same victim in this case. Additionally, Gillespie’s criminal record consisted of convictions in Washington for two DUIs and reckless driving, the release said.

McHugh revoked Gillespie’s probation and imposed his sentence in the probation case. McHugh elected to run the new case concurrent to the probation violation, meaning Gillespie will serve a year in prison in total, less credit for time served, before becoming eligible for parole.