Sentence given to woman for meth lab

A Columbia Falls woman has been sentenced to two years of incarceration followed by five years of probation after pleading guilty to running a methamphetamine lab.

Rachel Kemppainen, 38, was arrested alongside 35-year-old Jonathan Kemppainen after a search warrant at Jonathan’s parents’ property uncovered a great amount of trash related to the manufacture of meth in a dog kennel on the property.

Rachel Kemppainen later told police she bought pseudoephedrine for the meth from another person.

As part of her sentence for felony operation of an unlawful clandestine laboratory, District Judge Robert Allison recommended Kemppainen be placed in the Passages Alcohol and Drug Treatment program or in the Elkhorn Treatment Center.

Allison also recommended she be placed in the Intensive Supervision Program when she is released.