20th District Court News
Fast Horse sentencing rescheduled for Oct. 25
Edward Desmoine Fast Horse appeared in Judge Molly Owen’s court on Aug. 30 for sentencing for one felony count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs. No pre-service investigation had been done for Fast Horse so Attorney Justin Kalmbach asked for a continuance. Sentencing was rescheduled for Oct. 25.
Through his attorney and a plea agreement, Fast Horse had agreed to plead guilty to the charge. The state agreed to recommend that Fast Horse’s sentence should be deferred for two years. Part of the plea agreement was that Fast Horse should obtain a chemical dependency evaluation and follow all the recommendations and provide documentation to the Lake County Attorney’s Office.
His case began on March 9, 2022, when Fast Horse was driving a vehicle on Hwy. 93, and traveling 61 mph in a 55 mph zone, and was pulled over by law enforcement for speeding. He was arrested for driving with a suspended or revoked driver’s license.
During a search, officers found a baggie which was believed to contain methamphetamine and more than $700. Fast Horse admitted the baggie contained methamphetamine residue. Also in plain view in the vehicle were items of drug paraphernalia.
Fast Horse did not agree to a vehicle search. After officers received a search warrant, they found a round blue plastic container in the console cup holder which contained a white crystalline substance.. The container and its contents were sent to the Montana State Crime Lab and found to be methamphetamine.
Decker-Liberty arraigned in District Court
Alejandra Riviera Decker-Liberty was arraigned in Judge Molly Owen’s court on two cases Aug. 30. She was charged with one count of felony possession of dangerous drugs for each of the two cases.
On Nov. 22, 2022, Decker-Liberty was seen pulling into Town Pump in Ronan after another driver reported her swerving all over the road and almost hitting another driver.
A Ronan Police Officer pulled up and walked over to Decker-Liberty’s vehicle, which was parked at a gas pump. The officer could see her staring down into her lap. He also saw a large piece of tinfoil on it. From law enforcement training, he recognized this as likely to be paraphernalia used to burn or inhale the vapors of dangerous drugs.
The officer asked Decker-Liberty to step out of the car. As he was talking to Decker-Liberty, he noticed a small baggie with a small blue pill in it in plain sight in the open door handle. The pill was consistent with a counterfeit fentanyl pill which is smoked from tin foil.
The baggie and pill were sent to the Montana State Crime Lab, and tests showed it was fentanyl.
In the more recent case, on April 29, 2023, Decker-Liberty was observed by a Ronan police officer slumped over in the driver’s seat of her car at a stop light Ronan with her turn signal on. The officer approached her car to check on her safety.
Through the tinted windows, the officer could see the outline of a person in the driver’s seat pushing items onto the driver’s floorboards. Decker-Liberty rolled down her window and told the officer she was tired and had fallen asleep at the stop sign.
The officer noticed her eyes were red, and her pupils were constricted. She admitted to drinking alcohol, and the officer asked her to step out of her vehicle. He noticed small pieces of tin foil on the floorboards and a glass pipe in the center console that he recognized as items commonly used in smoking fentanyl.
Decker-Liberty was turned over to Tribal Police for processing for driving under the influence. She refused a vehicle search, claiming her vehicle had been stolen recently and she didn’t know what was in it. When a warrant was issued to search the vehicle for illegal drugs and drug-related items, officers found foil with burn marks and a blue “m30'' pill on the foil. They also found the remnants of another blue pill.
The crumpled piece of foil and the partially melted blue pill were sent to the Montana State Crime Lab and identified as fentanyl.