Plea deals underway in meth cases
Attorneys for two suspects seek to suppress key evidence
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Three of the five Columbia Falls area residents busted in May in connection to two clandestine meth labs are negotiating plea deals, while evidence suppression hearings have been scheduled for the remaining two suspects.
Christin Stordalen, 29, was arrested after Northwest Drug Task Force agents learned from a confidential informant (CI) that he was making meth by the “one pot shake and bake” method and burning all the evidence left after cooking. Stordalen lived on Columbia Mountain Road with his girlfriend, Mysterie Callihan, 34, and her two teenage daughters.
Both Stordalen and Callihan were charged with operating a clandestine lab and criminal possession with intent to distribute. They each face up to 50 years and a $50,000 fine for the first count because children under 18 were present where the meth lab allegedly was operating. Stordalen and Callihan have posted bond and live together in Columbia Falls.
A woman who was in the driveway at the time of the raid, Heather Piland, formerly Heather Faller, 39, of Columbia Falls, was arrested after agents found small amounts of meth and marijuana in her car. She accepted a plea deal on Nov. 21 in which the state recommended a two-year deferred sentence for a felony drug possession charge. Her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 16.
Shortly after the Columbia Mountain Road raid, agents arrested Jonathan Kemppainen, 35, and his wife Rachel Kemppainen, 38. Both were charged with operating a meth lab at Jonathan’s parents’ property on River Road in Columbia Falls.
The Kemppainens have been released and live together in Columbia Falls. While Rachel’s plea deal is in the works, Jonathan has a deal in place in which the state will recommend 12 years with the Department of Corrections, with seven years suspended, and a recommendation for placement in the Connections Corrections program.
Jonathan’s deal was accepted by Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison even though the state had petitioned three times to revoke his release after Jonathan tested positive for drugs. His public defender, Vicki Frazier, produced hair-analysis evidence after the second violation to show he didn’t use meth, but a drug patch sample collected afterwards on Oct. 15 tested positive for meth and cocaine.
Adding to the Kemppainens’ meth lab case are court orders from two “dependent neglect” cases from 2012 relating to their two children. Rachel and Jonathan had been ordered in those cases to follow a drug treatment plan with random drug testing.
Attorneys for Stordalen and Callihan, meanwhile, have filed motions to suppress evidence from the initial search. The same CI had directed law enforcement to the Columbia Mountain Road and River Road meth labs. Jonathan’s evidence suppression hearing was never scheduled after he agreed to a plea deal.
According to the search warrant application, the CI not only named Stordalen and described how the meth was made, but he also named people who supplied Stordalen with the key precursor — pseudoephedrine pills purchased at area pharmacies.
Pharmacies in Montana are required to record driver’s license information when pseudoephedrine pills are purchased, and those records matched names provided by the CI — including two known by their first names, “Johny” and “Rachel.” A drug enforcement agent watching the Columbia Mountain Road site allegedly observed equipment and activities that matched the CI’s information.
Callihan’s attorney, Lane Bennett, filed a motion on Oct. 16 to suppress evidence from the search. Because the search warrant was approved by Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht “based solely upon the officer’s application,” the “reliability” of the CI needed to be proven along guidelines established in the Montana Supreme Court case “Reesman.” There was also no “independent corroboration,” Bennett claimed.
Flathead County deputy attorney John Donovan responded to Bennett’s motion by citing a later Montana Supreme Court case, “Barnaby.” Donovan noted that the CI was known to law enforcement, not anonymous, and had provided “statements against his own interest,” such as admitting to providing pseudoephedrine to Stordalen. Furthermore, independent police work corroborated the CI’s information, Donovan said.
Flathead County District Court Judge David Ortley ordered an evidentiary hearing for Stordalen and Callihan to be held Jan. 21.