Victims Recall Home Invasions as Duluth Man Receives 10¾-Year Sentence

Jeffery Scott Montana, 60, of Duluth received a 10¾-year prison sentence March 3, 2026 for a three-day series of violent home invasions in early November 2024 that left elderly victims injured and prompted at least one family to move from their home. Judge Matthew Mallie imposed the term as the maximum allowable under a plea agreement after Montana pleaded guilty in December to three counts of first-degree burglary and two counts of kidnapping.

Prosecutors recounted the attacks as occurring over three consecutive days. On Nov. 4, 2024, in Chester Park, Montana "shoved open the front door" of an 80-year-old man's home, "pushed the 80-year-old to the floor, waved a gun in his face and ransacked the residence." A day later, on the 1500 block of Vermilion Road, he struck an 85-year-old man "over the head with a 'hard billy-club-type object' before forcing the man and an 80-year-old woman into the basement and again hitting both of them with the club." The next day, on the 2500 block of East Second Street, he "walked into the home and demanded a 70-year-old woman's purse. She then ran out the front door and fell down the stairs."

Investigators tied Montana to the scenes with a combination of surveillance video, pawn shop transaction records, phone records and Duluth Transit Authority bus footage, according to court presentations. The 60-year-old pleaded guilty in December and apologized at sentencing, saying he had been drinking and could not remember the events. Court filings and statements at sentencing described Montana as having an extensive criminal history and said he "has spent much of his life in prison."

A victim letter read aloud in court Monday underscored the lingering personal consequences of the invasions. "It still haunts me," the victim wrote, "and it helped us to decide to move out of that house. Being the victim of this crime has made me feel insecure and distrustful of an environment which I had previously enjoyed for 10 years." Another local resident reflected on the shock to the community, saying "No neighborhood is 'absolutely safe,' ... but the city 'seemed a very comfortable place to live' up until Nov. 4, 2024."

Court documents include phrasing that Montana "was handed another 10 ¾ years," reflecting the additional punishment imposed at this hearing. Judge Matthew Mallie sentenced Montana to the term under the terms of the plea agreement; court records did not specify any additional sentencing conditions or restitution details at the time of sentencing.