Cantu sentenced to five years for drug possession
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Gilberto Cantu, 46, of Othello, Washington, was sentenced at District Court in Polson on Oct. 2 to the Montana State Department of Corrections for five years with no time suspended on a drug possession charge.
According to court records, on April 7, a Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal police officer observed a black Jeep with false license plates traveling on U. S. Highway 93. The driver was known to the officer to have a suspended driver’s license and was wanted on outstanding warrants.
Following a subsequent traffic stop, Charmel Smith, the driver, was arrested. Cantu, the passenger, was observed in possession of a knife. While patting down Cantu, the officer discovered a baggie of methamphetamine that weighed in at 42 grams or about one and a half ounces.
The guilty plea came during a change of plea hearing on Aug. 14. It was part of an agreement that reduced a drug distribution charge to a possession charge.
