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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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2 years in prison for bail bondsman

By , Columbian environment and transportation reporter
Published:

A man involved in a botched fugitive recovery operation in March 2014, in which he barged into the wrong home while armed, was sentenced Monday to 26 months in prison.

Kelso’s David Lee Smith, 31, pleaded guilty in September to first-degree burglary and second-degree assault.

Smith, along with Jason Stomps, forced their way into a Vancouver home in search of a fugitive while working for a bail bond company.

There, Smith and Jason Stomps brandished firearms and ordered two young men there to handcuff themselves. Three people were home at the time, and none of them was the fugitive.

Annette Waleske, the mother of two people in the house that day, said in court Monday that the incident shattered the sense of security she and her husband sought to create in their home. She also slammed the idea that it’s wrong for Smith and his partners to go to jail for “just doing their jobs.”

It’s her family who were the victims, she said.

“He’s created emotional scars that will never go away,” she said.

Victoria Stomps, who was working with Regan Bail Bonds, pleaded guilty in September 2014 to second-degree rendering criminal assistance and was sentenced to probation, court records show.

Jason Stomps, who was an independent contractor and is Victoria Stomps’ husband, was sentenced in April following a jury trial to 15 years in prison for first-degree burglary, three counts of second-degree kidnapping and three counts of second-degree assault — all of which carried firearm enhancements.

Smith apologized repeatedly, and choked up when he turned to address the Waleskes, who were in the gallery.

“Going into this it was never my intention to hurt anybody or cause anybody to be scared,” he said. “It’s not how I operate my business.”

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Columbian environment and transportation reporter