Woman faces charges over marijuana gift

LIBBY — The wife of a man who is opening a medical marijuana dispensary is scheduled to be arraigned Monday for allegedly distributing the drug illegally.

Registered medical marijuana provider Jennifer Marquardt, 53, also known as Jennifer Evans of Libby recently was arrested on a felony warrant for allegedly attempting to give her daughter nearly 2 ounces of marijuana wrapped in Christmas paper in January.

Marquardt’s ex-son-in-law found a Christmas package addressed to his ex-wife among his daughter’s luggage when she was visiting him in Elmo in January, according to court documents.

He told authorities that his daughter said the present was for her mother, who lives in Billings, from her grandmother.

The shoebox-sized container held 52.2 ounces of marijuana, wrapped in plastic and duct tape and packaged with coffee grounds, an empty perfume bottle and a partially empty perfume bottle, according to court documents.

Marquardt’s husband, Rick Evans, who plans to set up a dispensary in the coming weeks to serve an estimated 200 local medical marijuana cardholders, said that the charges are the result of a mix-up and worsened by Marquardt’s  former son-in-law trying to gain custody of her granddaughter.

Marquardt, a registered medical marijuana user and a provider for five others, told authorities the package was intended for one of her patients, although the amount was nearly twice as much as a patient is legally allowed to possess at one time.

She told police the duct tape was to keep it from drying out, the coffee was a gift and that the woman the package was intended for collects empty bottles.

Marquardt’s granddaughter identified the color of the package’s wrapping paper and told authorities that her grandmother told her it was perfume for her mother.

Marquardt’s bond was set at $100,000 at her initial appearance April 12.