A Bonners Ferry man admitted in Lincoln County District Court Oct. 20 to his involvement in the distribution of illegal drugs.

Timothy O’Neal Petefish, 60, entered Alford guilty pleas to one felony count of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs and one felony count of criminal forfeiture. In Montana, an "Alford plea" is a type of guilty plea where a defendant maintains their innocence but admits the prosecution has enough evidence to likely convict them. 

Petefish's attorney, Maury Solomon sought his release on his own recognizance and District Judge Matt Cuffe granted it. Petefish will be sentenced Dec. 1.

A plea deal calls for Petefish to receive a 10-year sentence, with five suspended on the distribution charge and five years, all suspended, on the forfeiture case. They will be served consecutively. He must surrender a Ford F-350 truck.                                                  

According to the charging document filed by Deputy Lincoln County Attorney Jeff Zwang, the investigation began May 4 when county Det. Brandon Holzer conducted a controlled purchase of methamphetamine from Petefish.

Holzer was working with an agent from the Northwest Montana Drug Taskforce and a confidential source. Accoding to court documents, the confidential source met Petefish and the agent saw the defendant hand the source a plastic bag that allegedly held 28.7 grams of a substance that field tested positive for meth.

According to court documents, the source and Taskforce agent met Petefish May 21. The defendant handed the source a black object that contained 57 grams of a crystal material that field tested positive for meth.

Then, on May 28, law officers found Petefish at the state weigh station at the intersection of Highway 56 and U.S. 2. They seized his black Ford F350 truck. A day later, a search allegedly turned up .53 pounds, about 240 grams, of a substance that tested positive for meth.