by Sequim Gazette staff

In exchange for pleading guilty to burglary and theft charges, prosecutors recommended a residential drug treatment sentence for a 20-year-old Port Angeles man.

Blake M. Stensland was sentenced to three to six months of residential drug treatment and two years of community custody May 3 in Clallam County Superior Court.

Judge Ken Williams imposed the Residential Chemical Dependency Treatment-Based Alternative sentence, which was recommended by Deputy Prosecutor Ann Lundwall.

Stensland broke into a house on Shamrock Lane in the Agnew area Feb. 28, stealing a safe containing $40,000, a rifle, jewelry and other items. An 18-year-old neighbor, Ricky Amundson, also was charged in the burglary.

Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies said Stensland asked a friend for a ride to the Silverdale Mall on Feb. 29 and bought clothing with cash at the mall before getting a room at a motel in Bremerton. The next day, Stensland asked his friend to drive him to the Seattle area to purchase a Subaru, which he bought with $15,000 or $16,000 in cash, deputies said.

When the friend asked Stensland about the cash, he learned of the burglary, deputies said.

The burglary victims objected to the residential treatment sentence. In an April 15 letter to the court, the victims said Stensland has unsuccessfully been in inpatient drug treatment twice, outpatient treatment once and has other burglary convictions.

“We believe the chance of success with this DOSA (drug offender sentencing alternative) deal is slim to none,” they wrote. Stensland is ordered to report to American Behavioral Health Services in Chehalis on June 1 to begin treatment. Amundson has a June 6 court date to change his plea in the burglary case.