Brake light leads to drug sentence

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

Judge Matt Cuffe sentenced Alan Lynn Mcmillan to a three-year deferred sentence for a charge of criminal possession of dangerous drugs, a felony. McMillian pleaded guilty to the charge on April 1.

Mcmillan was originally also charged with misdemeanor driving while suspended, misdemeanor operating a vehicle without liability insurance, misdemeanor operating a motor vehicle with an expired registration and an additional count of felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

During his sentencing, Cuffe ordered Mcmillan to follow the terms of Adult Probation and Parole.

Deputy Brent Faulkner, with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, reported pulling over Mcmillan on Nov. 3, after a non-working brake light led him to run the license plate of the truck Mcmillan was driving.

The 1969 Chevrolet came back as belonging to John Boothman, Jr., and the registration was expired.

Mcmillan told law enforcement he was borrowing the truck while Boothman was in jail, and admitted that his driver’s license was suspended, according to Faulkner’s affidavit. Mcmillan also could not provide proof of insurance, and told law enforcement he believed the truck was uninsured.

Faulkner asked Mcmillan to exit the truck due to the apparent smell of leaking propane coming from the back of the truck. Faulkner asked Mcmillan for consent to search the truck after Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Detective Brad Dodson spotted a marijuana pipe in “plain view.”

Upon searching the truck, Faulkner reported finding what looked to be methamphetamine and a marijuana pipe, according to Faulkner’s affidavit.

Law enforcement also found a vial containing 14 pills of oxycodone hydrochloride while searching Mcmillan, according to the report.

In addition, a metal and a glass container with “crystalline” substances in them were found in Mcmillan’s jacket pockets. Mcmillan claimed he had found the containers in his yard. The substance tested presumptively as methamphetamine.

On Dec. 20, a bench warrant was issued for Mcmillan after he failed to meet the terms of his release, after his drug patch tested positive for methamphetamine, and he subsequently failed to appear to have another test patch. He was taken into custody on March 11 at his omnibus hearing.