Kila woman sent to prison for dealing meth

A Kila woman and her Missoula boyfriend were both sent to prison Thursday for distributing methamphetamine between February and July. 

Jamie Ryan Miscampbell, 31, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Missoula earlier this year to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Her Missoula co-defendant Andrew Joseph Shields, 32, pleaded guilty to felony possession of methamphetmine with intent to distribute.

Miscampbell was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison followed by three years of probation. Shields was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison followed by five years of probation. Shields will be sent to a federal facility in Wisconsin where he can complete vocational training and possibly drug treatment.

According to the prosecuting attorney’s offer of proof, if the case went to trial the government would have proven that Miscampbell was observed selling meth to a undercover buyer on Feb. 4 in Kalispell. Miscambpell was then stopped by Montana Highway Patrol in Missoula on Feb. 13 in Shields’ vehicle that had 195 grams of pure methamphetamine and several firearms hidden inside. Miscampbell denied knowing that the meth and firearms were in the vehicle when she was questioned.

“... Jamie was not aware of the large quantities of methamphetamine that her boyfriend, Andrew Shields, was distributing,” wrote Miscampbell’s attorney Katy Stack. “She admits to being a severe addict and her use of methamphetamine was very high during the time of the conspiracy.”

Miscampbell’s attorney wrote in a sentencing recommendation to the judge that Miscampbell denies selling the meth on Feb. 4, though she admits to selling 1.7 grams of meth on July 4.

Miscampbell’s attorney asked the sentencing judge to knock up to 30 months off her sentence and send her to a 550-hour residential drug treatment program in Arizona, so she could have a relationship with her young daughter.

“Defendant, Jamie Miscampbell, has been struggling with severe addiction issues her entire life,” Stack wrote. “She has consistently used methamphetamine and alcohol to try and numb the pain and anxiety caused by years of abuse she suffered as a young child.”

In her sentencing recommendation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliot argued for a 63- to 78-month sentence, with some leniency for Miscampbell built into the sentence.

Elliot argued that there was some danger involved in Miscampbell’s actions. She described a situation in which workers at the Guesthouse Hotel in Kalispell allegedly heard a gunshot from a room that Shields and Miscampbell were in. Ammunition was later recovered from the room, Elliot wrote.

“Other members of the conspiracy have indicated that they observed Miscampbell accompany Shields on ‘drug runs’ to Vegas and that Shields was in possession of a firearm while Shields was possessing methamphetamine,” Elliot wrote in her sentencing memorandum. “Jamie Miscampbell’s sister alleged that Jamie threatened to shoot her and that she had observed a gun in their motel room.”

The case was investigated by the Northwest Drug Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.