A Kalispell woman awaiting sentencing earned a felony drug distribution charge after allegedly smuggling fentanyl into the county jail in November.

Prosecutors alleged in court documents that Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies treated two county inmates for fentanyl overdoses at about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 26, just two days after Melanie Lee Hickok, 23, was booked into the jail.

When deputies questioned Hickok about the overdoses, she allegedly admitted bringing drugs into the detention center. She later specified that it was fentanyl, court documents said. 

Hickok was back behind bars after skipping out on her scheduled Aug. 3 sentencing on a felony drug possession conviction. Hickok earned that charge after a traffic stop in February 2021 led to a search of her vehicle that turned up a jewel bag containing methamphetamine, court documents said. 

Hickok pleaded guilty to the possession charge in June 2022, according to court records. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors were to recommend she receive a three-year deferred sentence. 

Judge Robert Allison issued a bench warrant after Hickok failed to appear at her August sentencing.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].