Plea deals coming in Libby drug bust

One of the four defendants charged in a drug bust in January could avoid jail time as a result of a plea agreement entered Monday in Montana’s 19th Judicial District Court. Defense attorneys for two of the other defendants informed Judge James Wheelis they were nearing settlement offers for their clients, while the fourth appears to be headed to trial in September.

Joshua Arvoux entered a plea of guilty to one felony count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs Monday, March 21. His plea agreement included a sentencing recommendation from the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office for a two-year deferred imposition of sentence. Judge Wheelis accepted the plea and found Arvoux guilty. He ordered him to report to Adult Probation Parole for a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for May 23, 2016.

Arvoux was arrested Dec. 31, 2015, after Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Holzer tracked a person suspected of stealing from parked cars to a trailer in Libby. Also arrested at the time were Julia Walton, Kimball Fehrs and Mark Gudmundsen. 

Walton’s attorney, Stephen Dalby, asked Wheelis to carry his client’s case over to the September jury term, indicating he was negotiating a plea agreement with prosecutors. Fehrs’ attorney, Charles Sprinkle, was granted a one-week continuance on the same grounds. Gudmundsen’s attorney, Will Managhan, was absent during the proceedings but his associate Alisha Backus indicated to the judge they were ready to proceed to trial in September.

According to his official report attached to the affidavit of probable cause, Deputy Holzer was patrolling on Conifer Road in Libby in the early morning hours of Dec. 31, 2015, when he noticed fresh footprints in the snow. The tracks, he reported, led to vehicles parked in driveways on Conifer Road.

Holzer made contact with the residents at one home to which the tracks led, who confirmed the tracks were not theirs, which gave him reason to believe a crime was in progress.

Holzer followed the tracks and identified several other vehicles along Wood Road, Conifer Road and Evergreen Road which had been broken into or an attempt to do so had been made. The footprints were tracked back to Conifer Road, where they met up with a set of tire prints leading Holzer to believe the suspect was in a motor vehicle.

The tracks then led to Conifer Road where they met up with tire tracks,” Holzer wrote. “At this point in time in my investigation I believed the suspect to be in a car and mobile. Deputy Davis took photographs of the footprints. The footprints were a solid sole shoe with a distinct round insignia on the heel.”

Holzer and Davis tracked the prints back to a trailer at Reese Court and found a green car in the driveway, which matched the description and partial license plate of a suspect car from a criminal trespass in Libby earlier in the day.

A warrant was issued for the trailer and executed by Sheriff’s deputies and Libby Police officers.

“At about 1014 hours, deputies from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and officers from the Libby Police Department and myself executed the search warrant on 67 Reese Court No. 57,” wrote Deputy Nate Scofield in his report. “During the search warrant, illegal narcotics were found inside the residence. I stopped the execution of the search warrant and applied for and received a second search warrant for the residence, vehicles and outbuildings. I executed the second search warrant at about 1643 hours. During the search, two glass pipes with residue were found in Walton’s backpack. I know from training and experience the pipes were methamphetamine pipes. I also found a small baggy in Walton’s vehicle laying on the floor in the front seat area of her vehicle. The baggy had a crystal residue in it.”

The residue was tested with a NIK Type U test and was a presumptive positive for methamphetamine.

Walton was arrested and charged with five misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass to a vehicle, three misdemeanor counts of attempted criminal trespass to a vehicle and one felony count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

Three other people were arrested and charged with drug offenses at the same time.

Arvoux, 27, was charged with one felony count of possession; Fehrs, 57, was charged with eight felony counts of possession and Gudmundsen, 58, was charged with six felony counts of the same offense.

In his narrative, Scofield reported Arvoux admitted to using methamphetamine the previous day, in the residence, and told Scofield he had pipes and a digital scale in the residence. Scofield said he found both the pipes and scales in the area indicated by Arvoux.

The search also turned up a cigarette box in Fehr’s truck containing a small glass pipe, also with residue, and baggies containing two different types of pills, both controlled substances.

“I executed the second search warrant at about 1643 hours,” Scofield reported. “During the search I found a ‘Marlboro’ cigarette box in the driver’s side visor of Fehr’s truck. Inside the cigarette box was a small glass pipe with residue in it. I know from training and experience to be a methamphetamine pipe. There was also two small baggies containing 20 diazapam 5MG pills, which is a Schedule 4 narcotic. There was another baggie containing two clonazapam 1MG pills, which is a Schedule 4 narcotic.”

Detective Brandon Huff searched a shed outside the residence and turned up additional illegal drugs.

“Detective Huff located a coffee can in the shed outside the residence,” Scofield wrote. “The coffee can was full of illegal narcotics and paraphernalia including the following: Methamphetamine, methamphetamine pipes and packaging, marijuana, oxycodone 5MG pills, oxycodone 15MG pills, hydrocodone 7.5MG pills, hydrocodone 10MG pills, codeine 30MG pills. Both Gudmundsen and Fehrs stated they had access to the storage shed.”