A Durango man with a history of violating his probation was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison.
Matthew Bennett Smith, 43, broke into an occupied home in June 2013 at 1020½ Main Ave. – an upstairs apartment near Carver Brewing Co. – while armed with a screwdriver in one hand and a knife in the other.
A man and a woman who were inside the apartment locked themselves in a bedroom and called police.
When police arrived, they kicked open the door and found Smith hiding behind a kitchen counter, according to an arrest affidavit. Smith dropped the knife but held onto the screwdriver until officers fired two nonlethal bean-bag rounds at him.
He was convicted of felony trespassing in September 2014 and sentenced to 30 days in jail with probation. When he failed to comply with terms of his probation, he was re-sentenced in November 2016 to 90 days in jail and three years of probation.
On Thursday, Smith admitted in court to missing scheduled drug tests as part of his probation. He pleaded with the court to give him the minimum sentence of one year in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
“All I’d like to do is return to Missouri,” he said. “I’d like to get home and help my sister.”
Sixth Judicial District Attorney Christian Champagne said the court gave Smith more than enough chances to comply.
“He ran out of chances,” Champagne said. “It is unfortunate because we have programs to help people, but there’s that saying that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. He was just non-compliant.”
mrupani@durangoherald.com
