Inmate accused of smuggling fentanyl into county jail

A Kalispell woman awaiting sentencing earned a felony drug distribution charge after allegedly smuggling fentanyl into the county jail in November.

Prosecutors alleged in court documents that Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies treated two county inmates for fentanyl overdoses at about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 26, just two days after Melanie Lee Hickok, 23, was booked into the jail.

When deputies questioned Hickok about the overdoses, she allegedly admitted bringing drugs into the detention center. She later specified that it was fentanyl, court documents said.