Armed Robber Spared Jail As Senators Write to Judge

A 19-year-old armed robber from a wealthy family was spared jail Wednesday in a case in which two U.S. senators wrote letters to the trial judge seeking leniency.

The letters from Sens. Max Baucus, who received $4,500 in campaign contributions from the defendant’s family, and Conrad Burns played no part in the sentencing, said District Judge Diane Barz.

“Those kinds of letters are inappropriate,” the judge said, adding they cast “an appearance of impropriety” over the court.

Baucus said he returned the campaign contributions.

Jamie Shelhamer, who admitted robbing a convenience store at gunpoint for $180, was given a six-year suspended sentence, with 18 months in Utah and Oregon treatment programs for young adults. She was convicted Nov. 7 after a nonjury trial.

Baucus and Burns asked Barz not to send Shelhamer to prison, proposing instead a juvenile treatment program for nonviolent teens that is offered in Massachusetts.

Deputy County Atty. Dan Schwarz, who had recommended a 15-year sentence, said he could not remember another armed robber in Billings escaping prison time.

Only five women with no prior record were sent to prison for armed robbery in Montana from 1985 to 1994, and their sentences ranged from five to 40 years, said Ted Clack of the Department of Corrections in Helena, Mont.

Four females convicted of robbery received probation statewide from 1989 through 1994, Clack said, but records didn’t specify if the cases involved armed robbery.

Baucus said he was not aware of the family’s campaign contributions when he wrote. He said he was merely trying to help a family he has known for years.

“I’m not asking the judge to do anything . . . but just to consider the circumstances and to consider the efforts of the family and try to help turn their daughter around in a positive way,” he said.

Baucus, a Democrat, is campaigning for a fourth term. Burns, a Republican, is not up for reelection until 2000.

Federal campaign records show that seven days after Shelhamer’s conviction, her father, John Shelhamer, and his sister, Linda, donated $500 each to Baucus’ campaign. Baucus wrote his letter Jan. 5. Four days later, Shelhamer’s parents gave an additional $3,500.