Wolf Point man pleads guilty to stealing drugs from Sheriff's Office

Great Falls Tribune (Montana)
BYLINE: Tribune Staff

Roosevelt County, MT

A 20-year-old Wolf Point man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday on drug charges after he was found to be stealing drug evidence from the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office while employed as a jail officer about a year ago.

Jared Albert Weeks-Combs will be sentenced on Aug. 26 in Great Falls for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. He faces a possible 20-year prison sentence and/or a $1 million fine.

According to court documents, Roosevelt County's undersheriff discovered drug evidence missing from the office's evidence room on April 20, 2009.

A recently retired custodian was asked to inventory the evidence room and discovered that 22 items of drug evidence were missing: approximately 12 grams of methamphetamine and 12 ounces of marijuana were among the missing items, as was $400 cash.

The same day the inventory was conducted, the sheriff's office received a call from a citizen who accused Weeks-Combs of stealing the drugs from the evidence room and selling them to pay his rent.

Security cameras were reviewed and witnesses were interviewed. Weeks-Combs was interviewed and admitted to gaining access to the evidence room eight to 15 times between February and April 23, 2009. He told investigators that he stole 21 to 22 envelopes containing meth or marijuana. He also admitted to taking a wallet containing $400 cash.

Weeks-Combs told investigators that he used most of the stolen drugs, though he did provide some of them to friends. The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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