Troy woman draws state sentence following probation violations

A Troy woman charged with several crimes in 2022 recently was sentenced to serve time in a state facility after admitting she didn’t follow the terms of her probation.

Elizabeth Kathline Williams, 29, initially pleaded not guilty to amended charges of felony attempted theft and burglary as well as several misdemeanors, including forgery, criminal trespass to vehicles, theft and violating a protection order. The charges were related to two cases in the Troy area in 2022.

Earlier this year, Williams pleaded guilty to burglary and received a 6-year deferred sentence in March. The other charges were dropped after a plea deal was negotiated.

According to court documents, in May of this year, Williams was accused of failing to attend out-patient drug treatment and her drug patches tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine.

Then in July, Williams was ordered to complete drug and alcohol treatment. But a little less than three months later, an employee at the treatment facility said Williams allowed two other people in the program to enter her room and retrieve methamphetamine from the street through the window.

Six days later, on Oct. 17, Williams was removed from the program.

On Nov. 13, District Judge Matt Cuffe sentenced Williams to six years, with one suspended, on the petition to revoke for failing to comply with treatment on multiple instances and possessing dangerous drugs.

The burglary charge for which Williams was sentenced arose in August 2022 when she stole a set of keys from her boyfriend and used them to enter a Troy business and steal multiple money bags.

Williams remains lodged in the county Detention Center.

At a court hearing in September 2022, Williams was described by county Attorney Marcia Boris as a one-woman crime wave in Troy since April of that year.

Williams, who appeared on video from the county jail at the hearing, was questioned by her public defender Scott B. Johnson, at the time, as well as Boris. When questioned by Johnson, Williams said she would be back to work as a cook at a restaurant in Troy as soon as she was able to post bail.

Williams said she worked 18 to 24 hours per week, making about $250 to $300 per week. She also said she was renting an apartment in Libby at $200 per month and had three children. Williams said her mother takes care of her two older children and her husband has the youngest child.

“My boyfriend and I each have cars and my husband lives out of town, toward the Yaak,” Williams said. “My husband and I have restraining orders against each other.”

When Boris asked Williams about an active arrest warrant for her in West Virginia, she said it was her sister’s issue.

“My sister used my ID to get a job in West Virginia, but I was never there,” Williams testified. “I’m paying off the costs, but that’s it.”

Boris then questioned Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Fisher about the current charges and Williams’ history in West Virginia.

“She (Williams) has an active warrant in West Virginia for financial exploitation of an elder,” Fisher said. “Here, there were several reports of stolen checks and compromised bank information. In August I was notified that a bad check case was coming from Troy by the Troy Police Department. A checkbook had been stolen from a car and six checks had been written.

According to charging documents, Fisher wrote that he received a call from dispatch on April 27, 2022, about a possible theft. The alleged victim said his check book was stolen and several checks had been written which caused issues with his account. The man retrieved copies of checks that were allegedly forged from his account.

The checks were written to Elizabeth Williams and Riley Malone. Fisher wrote in his report that the forged checks appeared to spell the alleged victim’s name incorrectly. The man said his girlfriend confronted Williams about the checks, but she denied it.

Fisher reported there were 17 forged checks for a total of $1,370, $365 written to Williams and $1,005 to Malone.

In May, Fisher spoke to Malone about the checks. Malone said Williams had access to his banking information. Fisher also told Malone his name was attached to a fraud report for an attempted money transfer from Williams’ father-in-law.

After explaining more details to Malone, Fisher wrote that he appeared to be in a shocked state and said he had nothing to do with either case.