Polson attorney Britt Cotter was on the cusp of taking his seat as newly elected District Court judge for Lake and Sanders counties, when he abruptly resigned on Dec. 22, 2024.

A little over a year later, he sat in the same Polson courtroom where he would have presided, as a defendant instead of a judge.

Cotter was charged Dec. 23, 2024, with three felonies – one for attempting to distribute dangerous drugs and two for possession of dangerous drugs. Initially, Cotter pleaded not guilty to the three charges during a court appearance last January. In November, he signed a plea agreement acknowledging his guilt on all three counts.

At his sentencing hearing, held Jan. 9 in Polson, Ravalli County District Court Judge Jennifer Lint, told him, “You let the devil of addiction get on your back, and it took you down a terrible path. You broke the law, you abandoned your morals, you likely violated professional responsibility, and that's all a choice,” she said. “But then you made an amazing choice, and that is you stopped.”

Under the plea agreement signed in November and accepted by Lint, the defendant was sentenced to three years on each charge, all deferred and to run concurrently.

For Cotter, that means he’ll be on probation for three years but serve no jail time. He’s also required to pay $370 in court fees.

It’s up to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for the State of Montana to decide whether his law license is also at risk – although Lint said during the hearing she doesn’t believe that’s necessary, especially given the scarcity of trial lawyers and public defenders in Lake County.

According to court documents, Cotter was first identified as a suspect in April 2024 during an investigation of a Kalispell attorney accused of fraudulent billing practices. During the investigation by the Department of Justice, text messages were unearthed between “A. Doe” and Cotter pertaining to drug transactions from March through December of 2022.

A search warrant issued to Venmo confirmed that Cotter had made payments to A. Doe of $900 in July 2022, labeled as “Legal Fees,” and $1,200 in October 2022, tagged as “work.” Both payments corresponded to texts between the two about drug purchases.

Cotter won an uncontested election for district court judge in November 2024 after Deborah “Kim” Christopher stepped down from the bench mid-term. On Nov. 13, agents from the Division of Criminal Investigation met with Cotter at his office in Polson, and in response to questioning, the attorney told them he didn’t have a substance abuse issue and had never purchased drugs from A. Doe, whom he described as a friend.

On Nov. 22, agents interviewed Flathead County District Court Judge Amy Eddy, who confirmed that she had spoken to Cotter on Nov. 18 about information contained in an affidavit, linking him to A. Doe. Eddy told agents that Cotter admitted he “bought cocaine” from A. Doe “a long time ago,” and had quit when he decided to run for judge.

She told him she planned to file a report with the Judicial Standards Commission.

A day later, during the first day of training for newly elected judges in Helena, they spoke in person. Eddy told state investigators that Cotter asked her to consider not filing the complaint. In a subsequent text conversation, he asked her to give him “a chance to resolve this” and inquired whether resigning from his judgeship “would have any impact on the charges.”

Cotter notified then Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike McGrath of his decision to step down on Dec. 22, 2024 and charges against him were filed Dec. 23 in District Court in Polson.

During last week’s sentencing, both the prosecutor, Assistant Montana Attorney General Meghann Paddock, and Lint appeared to be sympathetic to the defendant, noting the multiple letters of support in his file from colleagues and community members praising his professionalism as an attorney and his commitment to the community as well as the positive results of his chemical dependency evaluations.

“You have demonstrated throughout the duration of this case that you're free from any substances,” Lint said.

She also expressed regret, given his “courageous” decision to take responsibility for his actions, “that you are not going to be part of this fraternity of judges.”

In her comments, Paddock quoted President Theodore Roosevelt from his 1903 State of the Union Address, “no man is above the law, and no man is below it,” and said those words are “especially true of members of the bar, both lawyers and the judiciary.”

Cotter’s attorney, Colin Stephens, argued that “the lawyer thing is a double-edged sword,” and said precisely because of his client’s position in the community, “there's media, there's public pressure, there's condemnation, there's stigma.”

While noting that his client had committed a serious crime and “acted stupidly,” Stephens pointed out that throughout the defendant’s 20-year career he has “served the underserved” in Lake County, most notably with the Office of Public Defender.

“He's not out representing corporations and making money,” Stephens said. “He's contributing to his community.”

Cotter’s statement to the judge was brief: “I am so very sorry for my bad behavior. And I am grateful and thankful for the people that have supported me.”