Kusener faces drug charges after traffic stop

A woman believed by authorities to be a drug dealer in the Troy area faces multiple charges in Lincoln County District Court.

Authorities brought Kimberly Kusener, 39, up on a felony charge of criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute and a misdemeanor count of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia. She was expected to be arraigned in district court on Nov. 30, but the case was continued until Dec. 7.

Detective Brandon Holzer of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office arrested Kusener on Nov. 10 after a run-in with law enforcement over the summer alerted investigators to her presence. Kusener, on probation in Idaho, was not to be in Montana, Holzer wrote in an affidavit.

From street sources, Holzer said he knew that Kusener was a drug supplier in Troy. At times, she exchanged drugs for goods in lieu of cash, Holzer wrote.

On the day of the arrest, Chief Katie Davis of the Troy Police Department contacted Holzer. She told him she believed that either Kusener or her boyfriend was behind the wheel of a car following Holzer out of Troy.

Holzer pulled off of state Highway 56 to let the car pass. He could not make out any occupants owing to the heavy tinting, he wrote. But the tinting gave him a reason to pull the vehicle over.

Through a hole in the window, Holzer could make out a woman allegedly shoving a large bag on the passenger floorboard as he and his partner, Detective Dan Holskey, approached the stopped vehicle. Holzer later identified her as Kusener, court documents said.

Asked for her license and registration, Kusener instead supplied Holzer with a handful of titles to other vehicles. Flipping through them, Holzer recounted recognizing at least one of the names as that of a known addict.

“This was consistent with what a known drug user had told me in the past, that [Kusener] holds and trades stuff for dangerous drugs,” Holzer wrote in the affidavit.

He had dispatch run her name, and later Holzer and Holskey took a call from an Idaho probation officer confirming that Kusener was barred from Montana. The officer asked the detectives to search her and the car.

Davis arrived on scene for the search. She found about 64 grams of apparent methamphetamine in Kusener’s bra, court documents said. A search of the vehicle yielded a small box emblazoned with the words “pay up.” Opening it, Holzer found marijuana and pills with no prescriptions, according to his affidavit.

They also uncovered two loaded needles, possibly containing heroin, Holzer wrote. The suspected methamphetamine later tested presumptively positive for the drug and was sent to the state crime lab, court documents said.

After arresting her, Holzer and Holskey took Kusener to the sheriff’s office’s headquarters in Libby. There she agreed to answer a few of their questions, Holzer wrote.

Kusener allegedly told them that she was heading to a relative’s home to have her tires changed. Holzer wrote that both men she mentioned were known addicts and drug traffickers.

While agreeing that the 64 grams of methamphetamine was more than what would constitute personal use, Kusener refused to give up the intended recipient of the drugs, Holzer wrote in the affidavit.

Kusener is expected back in court for her arraignment on Dec. 7.