Judge sentences O'Neil to three years

Jerica Lynn O’Neil will serve three years for possession of dangerous drugs.

“This can be confusing and it can be stressful,” Judge Matte Cuffe told O’Neil during her Oct. 21 sentencing hearing. “And it should be, this isn’t a fun place and you haven’t done good things.”

On the evening of Feb. 17, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic disturbance call on West Pipe Creek Road in Libby.

Upon arrival, Deputy Steve Short was met by O’Neil — on probation at the time — who was allegedly intoxicated. Her ex-husband, Buddy Svendsbye, was no longer at the residence, but another deputy, John Hyslop, had stopped Svendsbye nearby.

According to Short, O’Neil told him she had left a purse in Svendsbye’s vehicle containing her chewing tobacco. When Short asked O’Neil about it, O’Neil said, “I just want my chew, not my purse.”

Short then questioned O’Neil regarding the reason why she didn’t want her purse.

“He [Svendsbye] may have planted something in it,” O’Neil replied, according to court documents.

Short then left to meet up with Hyslop, where he got a signed complaint from Svendsbye against O’Neil for criminal mischief.

Svendsbye alleged that O’Neil had torn up his car, damaging the rear view mirror, center console and further breaking an already damaged windshield.

After consulting with her probation officer, Deputy Short gave O’Neil a breathalyzer test. The test revealed that O’Neil had a blood alcohol content of 0.18. Short arrested O’neil for violation of her probation and transported her to Lincoln County jail.

At the jail detention center, Short found a meth pipe in O’Neil’s purse. The powder inside the pipe later tested positive for methamphetamines. O’Neil allegedly defended her use, telling authorities she consumed the drugs after Svendsbye pressured her into it.

Regarding the arrest in February, Judge Cuffe noted that O’Neil “had some slippage” during her probation. He called the three-year sentence “appropriate” given the charges.