CharlesCrane/MDN Joshua Alex Chambers exits the courtroom after being sentenced to 20 years in the Department of Corrections for charges stemming from a destructive pursuit through McLean and Ward counties and Minot in February of last year.

The Minot man who led law enforcement on a pursuit in a stolen vehicle through two counties last year was sentenced to serve 20 years in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation after pleading guilty to attempted murder, a Class A felony.

Joshua Alex Chambers, 19, Minot, pleaded guilty to seven of the 18 counts charged against him following the incident on Feb. 25, 2023, which began near Underwood. He drove at speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour and came to a destructive conclusion in downtown Minot.

As Chambers was fleeing from McLean County deputies northbound on Highway 83, Chambers struck a Ward County Sheriff’s deputy attempting to deploy a spike strip, which led to the attempted murder charge.

North Central District Judge Richard Hagar elected to follow the state’s sentencing recommendations, ordering Chambers to serve the 20 years in the DOCR. Hagar ordered maximum sentences of 10 years each for two Class B felony counts of criminal mischief resulting in damage of more than $10,000, and five years each for four Class C felonies (two counts of reckless endangerment, one count of theft, and one count of fleeing a peace officer from a felony).

The Class B and C felony dispositions were all suspended. However, the dispositions will remain active until he completes three years of probation, and he will be required to serve the sentences consecutively should he violate his probation conditions.

Chambers also was sentenced for a Feb. 23 incident that he was wanted for at the time of the Feb. 25 incident. Hagar ordered a concurrent sentence of five years in the DOCR for a charge of fleeing and 30 days for leaving the scene of an accident involving damage after he crashed a stolen vehicle into a garage as he was fleeing from law enforcement. Chambers was on probation at the time of the incident and was sentenced to five years to be served concurrently for both counts of fleeing and theft for a November 2022 incident.

Chambers was granted credit for 353 days already served. Collectively among all three cases, Chambers was assessed $71,030 in restitution, which included the 11 charges dismissed as a part of the plea deal accepted by Hagar in June of 2023.

Chambers’s sentencing had been delayed for several months after he filed a request to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming he had been coerced into accepting the plea deal by his former court appointed attorney, David Dusek. Dusek requested to withdraw following Chambers’s filing. Attorney Steven Mottinger was appointed in his place.

Mottinger had filed a motion to withdraw his client’s request to withdraw the guilty plea after spending time discussing the terms of the deal with him.

Mottinger implored Hagar to give his client “light at the end of the tunnel” by suspending five of the years, provided Chambers follows through on participating in treatment programs afforded to him at the state prison.

“He’s extremely remorseful for his behavior,” he said. “Put him in a position to somehow do better.”

Mottinger said Chambers’ remorse and having been under the influence of controlled substances, which he acknowledged was not an excuse, should be taken by the court as mitigating factors in his sentencing. Mottinger alluded to Chambers’ upbringing, describing him as “one of those young people who fell through the cracks.”

Larson dismissed this notion, saying multiple agencies had attempted to help him stay the course as he moved through juvenile court. Larson also played two clips of audio captured in a jailhouse phone call between Chambers and an unidentified female, during which he said he had intended to kill the deputy when he struck him with the vehicle.

Larson stated Chambers was highly likely to reoffend given his background, sharing with the court that by the time he turned 18 he had fled from law enforcement five times, including the incident days before the Feb. 25 pursuit.

Chambers spoke briefly in response, imploring Hagar, “I wasn’t in a great state of mind. I understand I haven’t always followed the rules the way I should or the laws. I need a break here. Fifteen years is a lot, you know? Twenty years, all of it. I didn’t think I’d see that much time for this.”

Hagar acknowledged Chambers’s youth but stated the information shared in court and in the case file gave him pause from granting a lesser sentence.