Accused drug smuggler pleads not guilty to new charges

Prosecutors have brought new charges up against a man long under investigation for smuggling drugs into Lincoln County.

Jason Ralph Eby, 46, pleaded not guilty to a single count of felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs Jan. 3 in district court. He previously pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal endangerment and two counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs in a separate case stemming from a March police pursuit. A jury later found him guilty.

Documents filed along with the charges detail the tense circumstances surrounding Eby’s arrest in Troy in July. City police officers took Eby into custody following an alleged standoff at gunpoint near a train tunnel.

In an affidavit, Troy Police officer Travis Miller recalled patrolling the train tracks east of the small city about 10:53 a.m., July 7 looking for potential campers. Nearing the tunnel, Miller spotted several vehicles along the tracks and stopped to speak with the motorists.

The woman told Miller they were trying to jump-start a vehicle for a third friend not at the scene. But Miller recognized her and recalled that she had allegedly helped Eby hide out at her home after he snuck back into town following the March police chase.

Miller wrote that she was acting nervous around him before suddenly telling him that Eby had kidnapped her and held her against her will overnight. But Miller reported harboring suspicions.

“Given this prior knowledge and the way [she] was acting, I knew she was hiding something,” he wrote in the affidavit.

Before they could talk further, Sgt. Henry Roy of the Troy Police Department and the woman claiming to own the disabled vehicle arrived on scene, according to court documents. This second woman accused Eby of stealing her car. When she confronted him over the phone, he told her the location of the vehicle and said that he had fled into the woods when he saw police officers.

At this point, the first woman Miller had come across offered up a description of the clothing Eby was wearing that day, court documents said. They also learned that Eby did not plan on going into custody without a struggle, Miller recalled.

“[W]e were told that Eby was armed and made the threat that he was not going back to prison and would shoot it out with the cops,” he wrote.

Miller and Roy, now joined by fellow officer Jared Holl, fanned out to search for the wanted man. As he canvassed the area, Miller came across one of the individuals from earlier in the day, who indicated that Eby had doubled back to the train tunnel.

Miller regrouped with Roy and Holl. The three decided to go into the tunnel, carrying “long guns because of the threat made by Eby to shoot it out with the cops…” Miller wrote.

As they approached the mouth of the tunnel, a pickup truck drove toward them. Miller recognized the driver as the woman claiming ownership of the disabled vehicle. As soon as she spotted the officers, she hopped out and opened the quad cab before retreating to hide behind the rear of the truck.

Roy and Miller looked inside and spotted Eby on the floor, hidden beneath clothes and other items, court documents said. Roy saw what he thought was the butt of a rifle — Miller wrote that it turned out to be a crossbow — among the objects and the three officers drew their weapons, according to the affidavit.

“Eby jumped up and stood on the door jam of the truck and started screaming, ‘shoot me, shoot me in my [expletive] face,’” Miller wrote. “As Eby started to lunge forward, [Holl] took the barrel of his gun and placed it in the middle of Eby’s chest and pushed him back.”

Miller scanned Eby, who was shirtless and wearing shorts, and saw no weapons. He switched to his Taser, court documents said. The immobilization device malfunctioned as Miller deployed it, but Roy’s worked.

Eby was later transported to a local medical center, where health care workers removed the barbs and treated an unrelated cut to his hand. Afterwards, Miller took Eby to the Lincoln County Detention Center for booking.

According to court documents, detention center personnel uncovered prescription bottles of ibuprofen and an antibiotic medication. They also found loose pills, drug paraphernalia and a plastic bag filled with 162 grams of a green powder.

Miller had the powder sent off to the Montana Department of Justice Forensic Science Division for testing. In September, the substance came back as tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC, Miller wrote.

Criminal possession of dangerous drugs carries a punishment of up to five years with the Montana State Prison and a $5,000 fine. Eby is due back in court on April 4 for an omnibus hearing with a pretrial conference set for May 2. Were the case to go to trial, it would begin in June.