Suspected fentanyl dealer pleads not guilty

A woman allegedly caught with 55 pills containing fentanyl during a traffic stop in Columbia Falls in April pleaded not guilty last week to a criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute charge.

Jessica Elaine Boyd-Criado, 27, appeared in Flathead County District Court before Judge Dan Wilson on May 11 for her arraignment on the felony charge. Wilson set an omnibus hearing for Aug. 30 with a pretrial conference to follow on Oct. 17.

Boyd-Criado remains behind bars in the county jail with bail set at $80,000. Wilson denied her May 2 bail modification request, telling her attorney that he would reconsider if they secured a bed date at an inpatient drug treatment facility, according to court records.

Deputies with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office crossed paths with Boyd-Criado on April 16 after spotting a vehicle missing a front license plate “make, what appeared to be, a careless exit from a parking lot into traffic,” court documents said. Hitting his emergency lights, the deputy saw the passenger, later identified as Boyd-Criado, moving around inside the vehicle, according to court documents.

A probation officer asked the deputy to search the area of the vehicle where Boyd-Criado sat, court documents said. The 27-year-old received a deferred three-year sentence last year on a felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs charge.

The driver also consented to a search of the vehicle, court documents said.

Inspecting a bag placed behind the driver’s seat, the deputy found Boyd-Criado’s wallet and several baggies containing what appeared to be fentanyl pills, according to court documents. Three baggies contained 10 pills each and the last held 25, court documents said.

Deputies also allegedly uncovered empty baggies and located $200 in cash on Boyd-Criado.

Under questioning, Boyd-Criado admitted to knowing about the fentanyl pills, court documents said.

Criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute is punishable by 20 years in Montana State Prison and a $50,000 fine.

PROSECUTORS ALSO are seeking the revocation of her 2022 deferred sentence.

In a report filed in district court, probation and parole officers cited the April 16 arrest and alleged that a drug test administered at the county jail came back positive for fentanyl. Boyd-Criado initially denied use, but later admitted to taking the opioid, the report stated.

The document also details Boyd-Criado’s previous trouble following the stipulations of her deferred sentence. In September 2022 she allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine. In November of that year, authorities required her to start wearing a drug patch and recommended she enter into substance abuse treatment. Her patches during that time came back positive for methamphetamine, the report said.

Authorities moved her back onto monitoring via a drug patch in February 2023 and again advised her to begin treatment, according to the report. In the subsequent weeks, her patches allegedly showed use of methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Although she claimed to be involved in a treatment program, probation and parole officers spoke with the provider, who said that Boyd-Criado had made an initial appointment and never returned, the report said.

“Boyd-Criado has not adjusted well to community supervision. In the shortness of time, she has been on supervision she has continued to use illicit drugs and is now pending a new felony criminal matter,” the report by her probation and parole officer read. “At this time, I do not see her fit for community supervision.”

A revocation hearing in the case is set for June 8 before Judge Robert Allison.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.