HAMILTON, Mont. — Two Port Angeles residents were arrested and charged with the intended sale and distribution of heroin and methamphetamine in Montana.
Marlen Revelo, 47, and Mason Gregory Skerbeck, 23, were charged Monday in Ravalli County court on 10 felony drug charges: four counts of conspiracy to distribute dangerous drugs, five counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute and one count of use of property subject to criminal forfeiture, all felonies.
The same charges were filed against Crystal Lee Griffin, 21, of Stevensville, Mont.
Ravalli County sheriff’s deputies said the three possessed $225,000 worth of narcotics, according to court documents.
On Tuesday, all three were in custody in the Ravalli County Adult Detention Center, held on $100,000 bond, according to the county’s jail log.
The Missoulian, a newspaper in Missoula, Mont., reported that Deputy County Attorney Thorin Geist told Ravalli County Justice Jennifer Ray on Monday that the three appeared to be on a test run to see if they could open a new market for the drugs.
“They were in possession of more than $225,000 of five different types of drugs, including heroin,” Geist said.
In the three years he’s served as felony drug prosecutor in Ravalli County, Geist said this was the first time heroin was involved.
According to court documents, a confidential informant told the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office that two Washington residents had arrived in Montana with a large quantity of heroin.
Informant
The informant provided detailed information on Revelo and Skerbeck and their rented, California-registered 2015 black Chevrolet Camaro and said they were planning to meet with Griffin in Stevensville to arrange the sale of the drugs, court documents said.
Deputies stopped the rented Camaro, where all three were found to be in the car, according to the affidavit.
The car was searched, and deputies found 257.4 grams of heroin, 201.7 grams of large crystals of methamphetamine and 30 grams of meth, as well as 16 hydrocodone pills, 14 films of Suboxone and one Fentanyl patch, according to the court report.
They also said they found a loaded .380 Ruger pistol, $1,730 in cash, drug paraphernalia, a laptop computer, an iPad and five cellphones.
Court documents said that during an interview with deputies, Revelo waived her right to remain silent and told deputies she and Skerbeck met with Griffin in Missoula, where the trio sold 17.5 grams of meth and 0.3 grams of heroin at the University of Montana.
Court documents said Revelo told deputies Griffin had set up another sale in Stevensville, their destination at the time of their arrest, and that the purpose of the trip was to determine how much heroin and meth could be distributed through Griffin in Montana.
