PORT ANGELES — One of the three people allegedly involved in a December 2020 robbery and shooting west of Blyn has pleaded guilty to a reduced sentence of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in exchange for providing information about other investigations.
Michael Howie, 43, Sequim agreed to plead guilty to one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm on Monday in Clallam County Superior Court.
Howie had been convicted of one felony during 2016 in King County and eight felonies in Pierce County between March 2007 and August 2018. Under Washington state law, convicted felons are prohibited from possessing firearms.
As part of the plea agreement, Howie agreed to fully cooperate in interviews about investigations involving Chad David Smith, Calvin Leroy Larson, who are both accused in the robbery-shooting, and Christopher Lee Haltom, accused of killing his father and his father’s girlfriend, according to court documents.
Howie will be released pending sentencing, which likely will occur after resolution of the Smith, Larson and Haltom cases. He will be on electronic home monitoring with travel restricted to Clallam County.
Prosecutors agreed to an “exceptional downward sentence” of 43 to 57 months, versus the standard range of 51 to 60 months, due to Howie’s cooperation in other investigations. He also will receive credit for time served in jail and on electronic home monitoring.
According to a probable cause statement filed in the robbery and shooting case, early on Dec. 29, 2020, Howie drove Larson and Smith to a person’s recreational vehicle, located in the 800 block of Youngquist Road, to rob him of three pounds of meth, with a street value estimated between $21,000 and $39,000.
The statement said that one of the men shot the victim with a handgun below his left knee, breaking a leg bone, and in his right foot while he was outside his recreational vehicle talking with them.
The victim was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He has since recovered.
Howie’s connection to Haltom was not specified in the court documents.
Haltom was charged Nov. 28, 2022 with the first-degree murders of his father, Clay Lee Haltom, 60, and Bryana Eila Presser, 43. He has been in the Clallam County jail since Feb. 22, 2022 on lesser charges. He has been set to undergo another competency evaluation at Western State Hospital to determine if he is fit to stand trial on the murder charges. He also has been awaiting a permanent bed at the hospital since March, according to court documents.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@soundpublishing.com.
