Drug plea may mean life, fine

Kalispell man admits guilt in meth case

The Daily Inter Lake

A 66-year-old Kalispell man pled guilty to meth charges Tuesday in federal District Court.

With this plea change, William Clifford Mendenhall faces the possibility of life in prison, a $4 million fine and five years of supervised release.

He admitted to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The state said that on Oct. 18, 2005, agents searched the Great Falls residence of Dale Davidson and found 246.2 grams of almost-pure meth, as well as small amounts of marijuana and cocaine.

Davidson was set to testify that in 2005, Mendenhall supplied meth, cocaine and marijuana from February to October, the state said.

He also told authorities that he received as much as 22 pounds of "a substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine" from Mendenhall, which Davidson then distributed in Great Falls.

Another witness told the state that he helped Davidson traffic the meth from May to October, and that Mendenhall supplied it. The state said this witness also saw Davidson give money to Mendenhall, and overheard conversations about Mendenhall fronting drugs to Davidson.

Mendenhall remains in custody, awaiting a June 7 sentencing date.