Man sentenced 30 years to life after jury finds him guilty of raping child for years
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POCATELLO — A 29-year-old man has been sentenced after being convicted of multiple felony sex crimes following a jury trial.
District Judge Javier Gabiola sentenced Kwentin Miller to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of life in prison for six felony sex crimes. Gabiola also ordered a 50-year no-contact order for the victim.
Miller initially pleaded not guilty to four counts of lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16 and two counts of rape. A jury later found him guilty on all counts after a two-week trial.
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Miller is now in custody at the Idaho Department of Correction in Kuna. He will be eligible for parole on March 27, 2054.
Sentencing
There were no victim impact statements as Miller was sentenced on Aug. 1. Defense attorney Justin Oleson pleaded to the court to continue the sentencing for the second time, claiming that the pre-sentence investigation, police reports, sentencing recommendations, polygraph results, and victim testimonials are false.
“There’s a bunch of stuff that we don’t believe is true and correct,” said Oleson.
Gabiola denied the request, stating that if there were issues with the case, Oleson should have provided a “factual basis” for his allegations.
Oleson then recommended probation and a withheld judgment, arguing that his client has no previous criminal history and insinuating that the jury convicted him unfairly due to the nature of the charges.
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“He understands that he was convicted by a jury, we were here, we heard the evidence. The jury made their decision,” said Oleson. “How many times have we had throughout current recent history, people that were wrongfully convicted and then came back years and decades later, because there was actual DNA evidence, they came back and acquitted?”
Oleson claimed the victim lied about the allegations and there were no exams done to prove Miller assaulted her.
“There is no physical evidence of any type,” said Oleson. “She never went to the doctor, never made any complaints about any of this. This case is strictly (the victim’s) statements to the jury, and her many statements to the interviewers that were played to the jury. That’s the evidence to convict.”
Oleson insinuated that if Miller had committed the crime, he would have admitted to it for a lesser sentence.
“Frankly your honor, if he wanted to admit to fault, we could’ve done this in the original two charges, and he could’ve been on a retained jurisdiction,” said Oleson. “But he’s consistently maintained his innocence.”
Gabiola then stopped Oleson, telling him they would not retry the case and asking him to re-steer his argument to the sentencing recommendation.
“I’m going to give you leeway here in your argument, but I just want to caution you, we’re not retrying this case,” said Gabiola. “We’re not here in front of a jury, we’re here for sentencing.”
Miller then spoke to the court, apologizing to those affected by the case.
“Throughout this whole process, it’s been hard on everyone directly and indirectly involved, from myself to the victim and everyone’s family and friends,” said Miller. “I do not claim to fully understand what they have been through, but I feel their pain in their letters to the court. And for that, I’m sorry.”
He continued, asking the judge for leniency due to his lack of a previous criminal record.
“I’m confident in my ability to succeed in treatment and in my community,” said Miller. “On that basis, I ask for leniency from the court and the chance to show I am not a risk to the community that I live in.”
Special prosecutor Daniel Dinger, with the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, argued for a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of life in prison for Miller, along with a 50-year no-contact order for the victim and her family members.
Dinger rejected Oleson’s insinuations that prosecutors wanted Miller to go to jail for maintaining his innocence and clarified that Miller was found guilty by a jury of his peers.
“We’re not asking the court to send him to prison because he took the case to trial,” said Dinger. “We’re asking the court to send him to prison because he was found guilty of, and he did in fact, abuse her for years and years and years, in a number of very serious ways.”
Dinger argued that the jury took the necessary time to deliberate over the facts of the case and weighed their decision on the evidence, disagreeing with Oleson that the jury did not do their jobs correctly.
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“There’s certainly absolutely no reason to believe or accept (Oleson’s) statement that the jury decided this case based solely on the allegations after a couple of days,” said Dinger. “This is a jury that took the time to listen to the evidence, to weigh the evidence, and they came to a verdict of guilty, not because they didn’t like the allegations, but because the proof beyond a reasonable doubt was there.”
Dinger continued, offering examples of Miller’s abuse – specifically creating scenarios where he had uncontrolled access to the young victim.
“He used coercion. He used manipulation when necessary. He used anger, violence, force to accomplish his desires,” said Dinger. “This is somebody who engaged in long-term abuse with a criminal mentality.”
Gabiola then explained his reason for his ruling, telling Miller that he was convicted on a serious charge and committed a crime that would affect the victim forever.
“The facts here, Mr. Miller, which the jury convicted you on were that you did sexually abuse (the victim) from the time she was nine years old to the time she was 14,” said Gabiola. “You groomed her, gained her trust, and you engaged in reprehensible behavior. You blamed her for what happened and did not take accountability for it.”