A Kalispell woman has pleaded not guilty to felony criminal child endangerment after allegedly driving drunk with her 5-month-old and 10-year-old children in the vehicle.

Jessica Dimler, 28, entered her plea Oct. 24 in Flathead District Court.

According to a court document, an off-duty Kalispell police officer reported a possible drunk driver in the area of U.S. 93 and Montana 40 on Oct. 8. A pair of Montana Highway Patrol troopers then stopped the vehicle and identified the driver as Dimler.

Dimler allegedly said she had been in an argument with her husband so she took her children and left. Her 10-year-old daughter reportedly told the troopers she was scared by her mother’s driving.

The document alleges Dimler failed several field sobriety tests and a blood-alcohol test that measured at nearly twice the legal limit before the troopers found a glass of orange juice sitting in the vehicle that both smelled like and tested positive for alcohol.

Dimler also allegedly told the troopers she had several prescriptions for scheduled narcotics and for marijuana. At the jail later, she allegedly said she had drank two alcoholic drinks, taken morphine and hydrocodone and used marijuana prior to driving.

The document claims Dimler admitted she should not have been driving, especially with her children in the car.

If convicted, Dimler faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.

She was initially incarcerated in the Flathead County Detention Center on a $30,000 bond, but she was later released on her own recognizance. Her next hearing is set for Nov. 13.

Woman fined for unemployment fraud

A Marion woman who admitted illegally collecting unemployment benefits has been given a deferred sentence.

District Judge David Ortley also ordered Jessica Jamison to pay $3,640 in restitution, a $500 fine, a $400 public defender fee and a $100 prosecution. During the Oct. 29 hearing in Flathead District Court, he also banned her from gambling or buying alcohol.

The judgment came after Jamison pleaded guilty to felony theft for collecting $3,640 in benefits to which she was not entitled between Feb. 4 and May 12, 2012, while employed at Teletech Customer Care Management.

A court document said that the company responded to an unemployment insurance division inquiry saying Jamison was still employed but on a leave of absence because a family member had reported she was in a coma.

Jamison later told an investigator that she had not been in a coma and that Teletech staff had been calling to ask when she could return.

Kalispell man pleads guilty to felony DUI  

A Kalispell man has admitted driving drunk while in possession of methamphetamine.

Charles Pyles, 51, made the admission while pleading guilty Oct. 24 in Flathead District Court to felony charges of driving under the influence and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

Pyles initially lied about his identity to the Montana Highway Patrol trooper who stopped him for speeding on Sept. 19, but later admitted who he was and that he had been drinking. He later failed field sobriety tests.

While a detention officer was emptying Pyles’ pockets at the jail, he found a baggie containing a white crystalline substance that Pyles told him was “most likely meth.”

Pyles’ felony drunk driving conviction is punishable with 13 months in a residential alcohol treatment program run by the Montana Department of Corrections, a consecutive, suspended sentence of five years either to the corrections department or the Montana State Prison, or between 13 months and five years of incarceration with the Corrections Department if he has already been placed in treatment due to a prior conviction.

A court document indicates he has prior convictions for drunk driving from February 1996, May 2010, and Aug. 2012.

He faces up to five more years in prison for the drug possession conviction.

Pyles had been incarcerated in the Flathead County Detention Center, but was released pending his sentencing under the requirements that he not operate a motor vehicle and that he wear a remote alcohol-monitoring bracelet.

A sentencing hearing has been set for Jan. 9, 2014.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.