On June 8th, I had written about driving through Longview, WA and stumbling on to the old town and specifically, the Monticello Hotel. Gorgeous place but it seems that the owner, 51-year-old Phil Lovingfoss is a real piece of work. On my original post, I had written that they got Gordon Ramsay out to try to fix the dining room and the show started with this event:
The filming started out on a sour note for Lovingfoss when he was arrested on suspicion of DUI the night before in front of the hotel — mere steps away from the production crews that had already set up in the parking lot.
Flash forward to today - from Longview's The Daily News:
Lovingfoss found guilty of intimidating Judge Ed Putka
After deliberating about two hours, a jury Friday afternoon convicted Phil Lovingfoss of intimidating a judge, rejecting a defense attempt to portray him as too impaired by a combination of drugs and alcohol to know what he was saying.
He will be sentenced July 12. He will remain free until then.
Attorneys finished their closing arguments by midafternoon Friday, wrapping up a trial that began Tuesday. Jurors returned a verdict at about 5 p.m.
Lovingfoss, the 51-year-old owner of Longview’s historic Monticello Hotel, was accused of making drunken threats against Cowlitz District Court Judge Ed Putka to police on July 11 last year. Putka was the judge in an earlier driving under the influence case against Lovingfoss.
Lovingfoss’ standard sentencing range is 12 months and a day to 14 months in prison.
Hope that someone is able to come in and save the hotel - it is a gorgeous building.
