Troubled C-Falls woman sentenced again for meth
A 36-year-old Columbia Falls woman with drug problems has been sentenced to five years with the Montana Department of Corrections after she pleaded guilty to felony possession of meth.
Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht sentenced Holly Joy Dull, aka Holly Joy Knight, on July 31. Knight’s sentence is consecutive to an earlier sentence for possession of meth in 2006, which was revoked in 2011 and reinstated in full. Ulbricht also recommended Knight be placed in an appropriate facility followed by pre-release.
Knight has long wrestled with meth addiction. On March 11, 2006, she and Jessica Albrecht were arrested near the Old Red Bridge in Columbia Falls. According to the arresting officer, Knight emerged from a vehicle and began taking her clothes off, the officer reported.
A search warrant turned up syringes, pipes, 102 jewel bags inside a Ziplock bag, a jewel bag with residue and other drug-related materials. Albrecht allegedly admitted she and Knight were in the process of injecting meth when the officers showed up. Knight allegedly admitted she had been using meth for several years — about a gram per week.
Knight violated her probation conditions before and after she was sentenced to five years with two suspended in September 2007. Following an alcohol relapse and continued meth use, Knight’s suspended sentence was revoked in October 2011 and reinstated in full.
Her latest run-in with the law occurred on Oct. 18, 2013, when Northwest Drug Task Force agents conducting drug interdiction work between West Glacier and Columbia Falls stopped a vehicle driven by John Leon Riggs, 63, of Columbia Falls.
The two agents recognized Knight and arrested her on an outstanding warrant. After she was Mirandized, Knight allegedly said Riggs had given her some black cases to hold for him, and that illegal drugs were in the vehicle.
Using a drug-sniffing dog and a search warrant, the two agents found syringes containing meth residue, a digital scale and at least nine jewel bags each containing from 0.4 to 1.3 grams of meth.
Riggs and Knight were initially charged with felony possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute and faced up to 20 years and a $50,000 fine if convicted.
In a plea agreement reached May 13, Knight agreed to “testify truthfully regarding this incident” in exchange for the state recommending no prison time, dropping a misdemeanor possession charge and dropping a “notice of persistent felony offender.”
Riggs, who was the winner of the $12,000 Montana Lottery “Strike It Rich Bingo” prize announced on March 3, posted a $10,000 bond on Jan. 7 and moved to an address in Columbia Falls.