C-Falls woman sentenced for operating a meth lab

One more of the five Columbia Falls area residents busted in May 2013 in connection with two methamphetamine labs has been sentenced. Rachel Kemppainen, 38, pleaded guilty to operation of an illegal clandestine lab and was sentenced April 10.

Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison sentenced Kemppainen to seven years with the Montana Department of Corrections with five suspended and a recommendation for placement at the Passages or Elkhorn treatment centers followed by intensive supervised probation.

Her husband, Jonathan Kemppainen, 35, was sentenced by Judge Allison on Dec. 12 following a plea agreement. He was sentenced to 12 years with the Montana Department of Corrections, with seven suspended and a recommendation for placement with the Connection Corrections or Nexis programs.

The Kemppainens were charged with operating a meth lab at Jonathan’s parents’ property on River Road in Columbia Falls.

The bust began earlier with a raid by Northwest Drug Task Force agents on Columbia Mountain Road, near Columbia Falls, where Christen Stordalen, 29, and his girlfriend Mysterie Callihan, 35, were arrested and charged with operating a clandestine lab.

Stordalen and Callihan each face up to 50 years and a $50,000 fine because children under 18 were present where the meth lab allegedly was operating. Their attorneys have filed motions to suppress evidence from the initial search, and their cases are still pending.

A 39-year-old woman who was in the driveway at the time of the Columbia Mountain Road raid has also been sentenced. Heather Faller, AKA Heather Piland, pleaded guilty to felony drug possession and was given a two-year deferred sentence by Judge David Ortley on Jan. 16.