Columbia Falls man sentenced for heroin possession

A 27-year-old Columbia Falls man was sentenced to 20 years with the Montana Department of Corrections with 15 suspended after he pleaded guilty by Alford plea to possession of heroin.

Flathead County District Court Judge Ted Lympus sentenced Justin Cork on July 3. Cork faced two charges from separate incidents. Lympus also ordered Cork to pay a $2,000 fine with half suspended and pay $800 in public defender fees with half suspended.

Cork had faced an amended charge of possession with intent to distribute after he was caught bringing heroin to the Flathead on an Amtrak train in May 2013.

According to court records, when Northwest Montana Drug Task Force agents tried to contact Cork at the Whitefish train depot, he took off running, dropping his backpack along the way.

Cork was apprehended after he hid under a porch at a nearby residence. A search uncovered 36 grams of heroin in his backpack. Cork had an earlier felony drug possession charge on his record.

Two petitions to revoke his release pending trial were filed in February and March after he failed to keep his GPS monitor operating correctly. Then, with a warrant out for his arrest, a Northwest Montana Drug Task Force agent saw Cork and two men leave the Burger King in Evergreen in a Dodge pickup.

Following a traffic stop, a search uncovered 9 grams of heroin in a pill bottle in Cork’s pants pocket and needles, a spoon and a digital scale, all with residue, in the back of the truck where Cork had been seated.

A plea agreement was reached on April 24 in which Cork agreed to plead guilty to the Amtrak case by Alford plea, meaning he maintained his innocence but recognized that the state had overwhelming evidence against him.

Lympus also recommended Cork be placed at the Nexus Correctional Treatment Facility in Lewistown.