BILLINGS, Mont.—Disgraced former Carbon County Attorney Robert Eddleman will spend at least the next three months in jail after pleading guilty to a federal cocaine charge.
Eddleman and his companion, Terri Jabs Kurth, admitted in U.S. District Court Wednesday to hosting parties in Billings and Red Lodge where they and their guests used cocaine over a four year period.
District Judge Richard Cebull allowed Kurth—the 43-year-old daughter of American Furniture Warehouse chief executive Jake Jabs—to remain free on her own recognizance.
But Eddleman, 51, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and led away in shackles. The judge ordered him held until a June 17 sentencing hearing.
Cebull rejected a claim by Eddleman’s lawyer that the former prosecutor needed to stay free to care for his mother, who is scheduled to undergo cancer surgery next week.
There is no indication Eddleman or Kurth ever sold cocaine—setting the case apart from the federal government’s usual tactic of pursuing high level dealers.
U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer suggested Eddleman’s job prosecuting criminals made for an exception. He added that Eddleman’s involvement with drugs made him susceptible to potential blackmail from those criminals.
“The federal government’s primary mission is to go after organized targets and target supply,” Mercer said. “What you have here is a person responsible for charging criminals who is involved in an illegal activity.”
Mercer said additional prosecutions out of the investigation that snared Eddleman and Kurth were possible, but he offered no further details.
Before striking their plea deals with prosecutors, Eddleman and Kurth had faced three additional drug counts, including distribution of cocaine.
In exchange for those charges being dropped, the pair agreed to a single count each of maintaining a drug-involved premises. That carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and three years supervised released.
Precise terms of the plea deal are under seal at Cebull’s order. But court testimony on Wednesday revealed a recommendation from prosecutors that the pair each be sentenced at the low end of federal sentencing guidelines.
That means one or both defendants theoretically could get off with probation or serve at least part of a prison sentence under home detention.
Kurth also must pay $50,000 in lieu of forfeiting her homes in Red Lodge and Billings where the cocaine was used.
Mercer said there was nothing in the plea deal to exclude a prison term for either defendant.
“It’s important to note that he’s already in custody,” Mercer said of Eddleman. “The guy’s going to stay (in detention) for at least 90 days.”
Eddleman’s attorney, Brian Fay, had unsuccessfully argued in court that the possibility of a probation-only sentence qualified his client to remain free pending the June 17 hearing.
“That’s not fair to take him into detention and have him serve three months if he’s going to end up with a probationary sentence,” Fay said.
Eddleman submitted a letter of resignation this week as part of his plea deal. He was appointed Carbon County attorney in 2006 and elected to a four-year term later that year.
The Carbon County Commission is to meet Thursday to name a replacement for the post until a new county attorney is elected in 2010.
Eddleman and Kurth appeared separately before Cebull, who said he was not obligated to follow the prosecution’s recommendation of a light sentence.
When Cebull asked Kurth if she had supplied the cocaine consumed at their parties, she replied, “Sometimes your honor. Sometimes other people at the parties supplied it as well.”
“I’ve never sold cocaine, your honor,” she added. “It was always gratuitous.”
Eddleman made similar admissions.
Judge Cebull did not explain why Kurth was allowed to remain free while Eddleman went into custody.
Kurth and her lawyers declined comment as they left the federal courthouse in Billings.
The case stemmed from a 2007 investigation into drug trafficking in Billings and Red Lodge. Prosecutors said that investigation revealed Eddleman and Kurth bought small amounts of cocaine on multiple occasions from a dealer later identified as Domingo Baez.
Authorities say that after one drug buy, law enforcement agents pulled over a vehicle driven by Kurth, who was accompanied by an unidentified male passenger. After a search of the vehicle failed to turn up any drugs, prosecutors said Kurth and the passenger returned to her house to consume the cocaine.
Kurth’s attorney, Robert Kelleher, on Wednesday denied the claim.
“This is not true,” he said.
