Libby woman gets prison time in meth possession case

A Libby woman accused of drug trafficking following an incident late last year was recently sentenced to prison time.

Rochelle Denise Styles, 44, was first charged with three felony counts of transferring illegal articles (dangerous drugs), criminal distribution of dangerous drugs and a misdemeanor count of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia. 

Styles pleaded guilty on May 20 in Lincoln County District Court to the drug distribution charge. The other charges were dropped according to the terms of a plea deal.

District Judge Matt Cuffe sentenced Styles on July 15 to four years in a state Department of Corrections facility. Styles was taken into custody by county detention officers. She got credit for previously serving 44 days in the county jail. Styles must also pay $1,030 in fines and fees.

Styles and a Libby man, Trevar Alee Sheasby, 32, were accused of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs, or in the alternative, criminal possession of dangerous drugs and one misdemeanor count of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia, following a incident on Dec.18, 2023.

Sheasby pleaded guilty on March 18 to possession of methamphetamine. On April 29, Cuffe sentenced Sheasby to a 3-year deferred term. He received credit for serving 21 days in the county jail and must pay $230 in fines and fees. Cuffe did not impose the $800 payment for his public defender following discussion about Sheasby’s lack of income and that he owes more than $10,000 in child support.

Sheasby explained he ran a credit repair business before his arrest on Dec. 18, 2023. 

According to a probable cause statement by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brandon Holzer, the distribution case began on Dec. 18, 2023, when the department did a methamphetamine buy/bust operation at a Mineral Avenue location with Sheasby as the target.

A confidential informant was given $600 to buy an ounce of meth. Sheasby tried to get the informant to drive him to a trailer park to get the meth, but when the informant refused, Styles allegedly arrived with a cigarette pack containing 15.5 grams of meth.

According to Holzer’s report, after the deal was done, it appeared that Sheasby and Styles were attempting to leave in her vehicle. Holzer ran to the vehicle and told both people to show him their hands. Holzer reported that Styles complied while Sheasby allegedly dug through his pockets. Det. Dan Holskey ran to Sheasby and tackled him against the vehicle, gaining control of his arms.

Styles was taken into custody without incident, but Holzer reported that Sheasby had dropped a bag of meth weighing 7.4 grams, according to the court filing. Sheasby also had a needle on his person.

Later, jail staff told Deputy Cody DeWitt that a meth pipe was found on Styles during her search. She also allegedly had $400 of the money used in the operation when she was arrested while Sheasby had the other $200, including the only $100 bill used in the buy.

Holzer reported the bags of drugs field tested positive for meth.

A second alleged incident on Dec. 19 inside the county jail led to more charges against Styles.

According to Deputy Holzer, he was contacted on Dec. 19 by Lincoln County Dispatch about a possible drug overdose in the county jail. An ambulance arrived to remove a woman that was in distress and was struggling physically with some type of overdose.

Holzer wrote that when he arrived, detention officer Sgt. Beckie Guerra was speaking with inmate Emily Chamberlain. Chamberlain said inmate Elizabeth Williams was having a panic attack or suffering from some sort of mental break. 

Holzer then spoke with inmate Salli Bosma, who told the officer that, “we need to find the dope, it’s bad (profanity).” When Holzer asked Bosma if she knew where it was, she said "Roach" brought it in to the jail inside her when she came to jail.”

Holzer clarified that Rochelle Styles goes by the nickname "Roach" in the community.