Woman sent to prison on drug charges

LACONIA — A Superior Court judge has sent a local woman to prison for drug possession and violating the terms of her probation.

Rachel L. Mount, 41, of Highland Street, in Laconia, pleaded guilty in Belknap Superior Court last Thursday to a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

In addition to accepting Mount’s guilty plea, O’Neill also sustained probation officials’ findings that Mount had violated several conditions of her probation linked to her conviction last year on a charge of selling methamphetamine.

O’Neill sentenced Mount to a 1½- to three-year sentence on the drug possession charge and the probation violation, with the sentences to run concurrently. She was given credit for the 100 days she had spent in confinement prior to the plea-and-sentencing hearing. In addition, O’Neill ruled that three months of the minimum sentence could be suspended if Mount satisfactorily completes an in-prison drug treatment and counseling program.

Should Mount qualify for the sentence suspension and then commits any crime within three years of her release she could be returned to prison to serve out the balance of her sentence.

According to probation officials, Mount’s violations included living in a place not approved by probation officers, associating with people with criminal records, and using drugs. In addition, her cellphone contained drug-dealing and prostitution message, according to court documents.