Three charged in prescription-drug theft
Two women and a man charged with felonies for an alleged November robbery during which a Kalispell woman said she was held at knife-point and robbed of 1,200 morphine pills pleaded innocent Thursday in Flathead District Court.
Devin J. Olesen, 25, is accused of forcing his way through the back door of a home on Ninth Street West on Nov. 2 and holding a knife to the woman’s stomach.
The woman said that a tall, skinny man in a mask — thought to be Olesen — led her to a bedroom where she said she was robbed of the morphine pills as well as 150 Percocet pills and 90 Valium pills.
The medications had been prescribed to the woman over a long period of time and were legally obtained, according to Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset.
The robbery occurred moments after the woman answered a knock on the front door, according to court documents.
Brittney Rae Toole, 26, whose last name recently was changed from Koznov, is accused of knocking on the door in an effort to distract the woman while Olesen entered the home.
Toole pleaded innocent Thursday to felony accountability to robbery.
The third person charged in the crime, Sabrina Gustafson, 33, told Kalispell Police Department detectives that she initially had gone along with the plan but left on foot when the trio arrived at the woman’s home.
She allegedly admitted to conceiving the idea and was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, according to court documents.
The three felony charges each carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and no fewer than two years in prison, along with a fine of up to $50,000.
Olesen, Koznov and Gustafson also have been charged with felony possession of dangerous drugs, which carry potential sentences of up to five years in prison.
Toole and Olesen are being held in the Flathead County Detention Center while Gustafson has been released on her own recognizance.
Olesen and Toole are scheduled to go to trial in August while Gustafson’s trial is tentatively scheduled to begin in September.