Plea bargain offered to C-Falls woman

A 21-year-old Columbia Falls woman has agreed to a plea agreement with the Flathead County Attorney’s Office relating to felony drug, burglary and forgery charges.

According to court records, Stephanie Konopatzke was charged with three felony counts of distribution of dangerous drugs after she allegedly sold OxyContin (aka Oxycodone) pills to a confidential informant in early 2010.

Konopatzke allegedly sold four pills for $320 on Jan. 24, two pills for $160 the next day and two more pills for $150 on Feb. 3. The confidential informant wore a wireless transmitter on the last two deals.

She was bonded out, but before she was sentenced for the alleged drug deals, Konopatzke was arrested and charged with one felony count of burglary and one felony count of forgery.

Konopatzke’s grandmother told detectives that she returned from a trip on Dec. 20, 2010, and found 13 of her checks had been cashed at businesses across Columbia Falls.

Fifteen blank checks were missing from a desk drawer, she said, and when she looked at the cashed checks, she thought the forged signature could have been made by her granddaughter. She also said she had banned her granddaughter from her home because of previous theft incidents.

Using video from Super 1 Foods and Smith’s Food and Drugs, detectives confirmed that Konopatzke had written the checks. Altogether, the checks Konopatzke allegedly cashed totaled $292. She faced up to 20 years and a $50,000 fine if convicted of the burglary or forgery charges.

In a plea agreement signed Feb. 16, the county attorney’s office recommended dismissing two of the drug charges and the burglary charge. If the judge approves, Konopatzke will get 10 years with five suspended for the remaining drug charge, with recommendation for treatment at the Elkhorn Treatment Center, and four years deferred for the forgery charge, concurrent with the drug sentence. She also would be required to pay restitution.