Libby woman facing prison time after probation violations

A Libby woman who pleaded guilty to drug charges earlier this fall was recently returned to the county jail after allegedly failing to remain sober.

In December 2023, Cricket Ann Orsborn, 35, was arrested following an incident where she allegedly bit her boyfriend and had bloody syringes in the presence of her 16-month-old child during the incident.

At the time, Orsborn was held on charges including child endangerment, criminal possession of dangerous drugs, partner or family member assault, causing bodily injury, and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.

July 30, she pleaded guilty to criminal possession of dangerous drugs and received a 5-year suspended sentence on Sept. 23. The other charges were dismissed.

At that point, Orsborn had been in the Lincoln County Drug Treatment program for about three months. According to court documents, Orsborn attended inpatient treatment at the Badlands Recovery Center in Glendive from Sept. 9 to Oct. 9. She was then accepted into the Southwest Chemical Dependency Center in Livingston.

She was on track to complete a sober living program but was terminated from it on Nov. 20 because she was using illegal drugs, not participating in treatment and trying to manipulate staff members.

Dec. 3, a hearing was held in Lincoln County District Court and Orsborn was terminated from its drug treatment program.

According to a report by Probation and Parole officer Alice Rhodes, she is recommending a revocation of the 5-year term and that Orsborn is committed to the Department of Corrections for five years with screening for Elkhorn and pre-release programs.

“Due to her history with substance use disorder and her recent conduct, she needs longer-term treatment,” Rhodes wrote in the report.

A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16.

The details are similar to events in 2018 following Orsborn’s conviction for felony drug possession.

According to a Nov. 7, 2017, story in The Western News, Orsborn faced two felony charges of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and one felony charge of criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute.

A search of a vehicle she was in on Oct. 20, 2017, turned up 52.9 grams of meth in a purse she was holding. After she was released from custody, it was revoked because her drug patch results were positive for drug use on three occasions. According to court documents, she pleaded guilty to drug possession. A plea deal called for a 4-year suspended sentence.

In the 2023 case, just after midnight Saturday, Dec. 16, county Deputy Luke Hauke responded to a home on Kootenai River Road. In Hauke’s probable cause statement, he wrote that Orsborn is in an intimate relationship with a 31-year-old man and they live in the same home with their 1-year-old child. 

Hauke reported that Orsborn bit the man on the neck, leaving a visible injury larger than a quarter. The man told the officer that Orsborn took his loaded Glock handgun. When Hauke attempted to arrest Orsborn, he said she was sitting on a couch with the baby. The officer found two open-top hand bags hidden on the couch. The hand bags allegedly held several used syringes and baggies with white residue.

Officer Hauke reported Orsborn was trying to reach behind her in an apparent attempt to move something, which he believed was the missing handgun. He also reported one hand bag held 71 syringes, most of which had been used and some of which still contained blood. 

When the blood was field tested, it was positive for methamphetamine. Officer Hauke reported that after he read Orsborn her rights, she allegedly said the bags containing the drugs and paraphernalia belonged to her and not her boyfriend. 

Also, in Officer Hauke’s statement, the boyfriend said Orsborn spends a lot of time on the couch with the baby and that there were kids’ toys in the living area where the couch is located where the drugs and paraphernalia was allegedly found.