Former Idaho GOP chairman gets 14 days in a Boise jail, probation in stalking case

An Ada County judge sentenced former Idaho Republican Party Chairman Jonathan Parker to 14 days in jail, five years of probation and 100 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty to stalking his estranged wife and unlawfully entering the home of a female colleague.

“There was behavior that threatened my safety long before the criminal activity,” Parker’s now ex-wife, Kelly, said on Monday during her victim impact statement to 4th District Judge Patrick Miller. “He is a very skilled liar and manipulator. I actually lived through more of that than I care to recount here today.

“I just want to underline the fact that my concern for my safety really lies in the fact that he continues to blame me for all of the unraveling in his life.”

In his statement to the judge, Parker said, “I am embarrassed by what has transpired this past year and in being in this position today. I make no excuses. I accept full responsibility for all of my actions.

“I am very sorry to those I hurt. I ask for their forgiveness. ... I do ask that those I hurt, that they also move forward with forgiving me.”

“During the last year I experienced a great deal of emotional ups and downs,” Parker said, referring to adopting a child and having his wife filing for divorce. “I was not emotionally prepared for these changes and I made poor and irrational choices.”

Parker’s plea agreement settles his five pending criminal cases.

Under the “global settlement” agreement, Parker pleaded guilty to two counts: stalking his estranged wife, a felony, and unlawfully entering a home, a misdemeanor. The other three misdemeanor counts — witness intimidation, a no-contact-order violation and trespass of privacy — were dismissed.

The judge also issued a five-year no-contact order with the two victims and ordered Parker to undergo a psychological evaluation.

Parker faced up to five years in prison and/or up to a $10,000 fine on the felony stalking charge, and up to six months in jail and/or up to a $1,000 fine on the misdemeanor unlawful entry charge.

Prosecutors asked the court for a sentence of 90 days in jail, five years of probation and 100 hours of community service.

Parker’s attorney, Randall Barnum, asked for 100 hours of community service and a withheld judgment, which would mean that upon completion of the court-ordered sentence, the convictions would not be entered into Parker’s record. The judge did not grant that request.

“Jonathan has been punished severely in the news media,” Barnum told the judge. “Fairly or unfairly, I don’t need to decide that. There has been a modicum of punishment that has already been meted out that is beyond what the court can do in this particular case.”

Following an hourlong hearing on Monday, officers took Parker into custody. He was to be transported to the Ada County Jail to begin serving his sentence.

Parker’s legal problems began May 30, when Boise police arrested him on a felony stalking charge at his estranged wife’s apartment complex. Since then, he has been charged with misdemeanor privacy trespass, a misdemeanor no-contact order violation, misdemeanor unlawful entry and felony witness intimidation.

The unlawful entry and witness intimidation charges stemmed from interactions with a female colleague at whose house Parker once stayed. The other three charges pertained to his ex-wife.

Parker resigned from his GOP post Feb. 18, with more than two years left in his term.

On June 29, the Idaho Republican Party elected former Idaho congressman and candidate for governor Raul Labrador as its new chairman. Labrador defeated former Idaho school superintendent Tom Luna in a 111-109 vote.

This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 2:39 PM.