Washington man sentenced for illegal drug possession

A Washington man who pleaded guilty to illegal drug possession after he thought he was suffering from an overdose during a 2023 incident, was sentenced Monday in Lincoln County District Court.

Jeremy A. Gustavel, 50, of Everett, first pleaded not guilty June 17 to the offense while appearing via Zoom. Gustavel changed his plea at an Aug. 5 hearing.

District Judge Matt Cuffe stuck with most of the terms of the plea deal between Deputy County Attorney and Gustavel’s attorney, Scott G. Hilderman, and gave the man a 5-year deferred term. Gustavel received credit for serving one day in county jail.

He originally faced a maximum sentence of five years in the Montana State Prison.

The county argued for a $2,500 fine while Hilderman sought to have it at $1,000. Cuffe sided with the prosecution, alluding to Gustavel’s reported monthly income of $15,000.

The case began on Aug. 15, 2023, for county Sheriff’s Deputy Clint Heintz when EMS asked him to respond to a possible drug overdose at 1068 Corvette Drive, Eureka. A man, later identified as Gustavel, thought he was overdosing on Percocet or Valium possibly laced with fentanyl.

When Heintz arrived he said the caller, Emily Conev, was outside a white conversion van with California plates. She said Gustavel was inside the van. Heintz spoke to the accused, who didn’t seem concerned he was there. Heintz saw an orange prescription bottle with small blue pills that he believed were fentanyl.

When Heintz told Gustavel what he thought the pills were, the man said he was messed up. He said he snorted one-half pill three or four hours ago. When Heintz asked Gustavel how long he’d been using them, the man  said, “for about three weeks.” 

The defendant then pulled out a home fentanyl test kit and placed it on a counter, according to court documents. Heintz said he kept the defendant, who appeared lethargic, talking until an ambulance unit arrived. 

Gustavel told Heintz he was in the real estate business. While Heintz spoke to EMS, Gustavel set another orange bottle on the counter. It allegedly held Xanax and two marijuana cigarettes. The officer also found six buprenorphine and naloxone strips. Gustavel called them Suboxone and said he used to have a prescription for it.

When Heintz asked Gustavel what got him into using pills, he said the officer wouldn’t believe him, but his ex-wife had multiple people hitting him with radiation. The defendant allegedly opened a drawer and showed the officer a personal Geiger counter.

After Gustavel was taken to Logan Health Whitefish for treatment, Heintz spoke to the woman. She said she met Gustavel while she was in Washington for alcohol abuse treatment. She invited him to come stay with her, which made the woman’s mother unhappy. She also said Gustavel may have an undiagnosed mental disorder.

When Heintz went to the county Law Enforcement Center to secure evidence, he found 34 blue pills marked M 30. He also found a variety of other pills.

An analysis of the pills at the Montana Department of Justice’s Forensic Science Division determined the pills were a variety of oxycodone, diazepam and bromazolam.