Local woman sentenced for drug possession

A Lincoln County woman was given a four-year sentence in Montana’s 19th Judicial District Court May 6, in Libby, for charges related to drug possession.

Judge Matt Cuffe sentenced Paula Nicole Grainger to a four-year sentence for the charge of criminal possession of dangerous drugs, a felony. Grainger pleaded guilty to criminal possession and was given credit for her 56 days of time served prior to the sentencing.

Charges for criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia were dismissed as part of Grainger’s plea.

Detective Brandon Holzer, with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, reported finding several baggies of suspected meth, two digital scales, marijuana, two large bundles of empty Ziplock bags and a double barrel shotgun after searching a van Paula Grainger and her boyfriend, Michael Long, had been using.

Holzer noted in his report that Long was on probation out of Flathead County.

Grainger said she and Long were living in the van, according to the report.

In a separate case report by Detective Brad Dodson, with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, two Lincoln County residents reached out to Dodson about Long’s drug activities, one alleging that Long sold methamphetamine from a van.

Prior to the van search, Grainger called Dodson and told him that “99 percent” of the van’s items were hers, including a needle, according to the report.

During Holzer and Dodson’s search of the van, the methamphetamine found in the vehicle’s floorboards was “ready for distribution,” according to the report.

In a letter Grainger wrote to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, she stated that the drugs found in the search all belonged to her and that she was “the real offender.”

Grainger labeled the department as “ding bats” for not charging the “correct person,” according to her letter.

“Seems the department was so anxious — that they overlooked the real offender,” she wrote.

The department wrongfully charged Long for drugs, she wrote. Adding, “I 100% admit that every single tiny piece of meth found was mine.”