Sentenced defendant thankful for arrest

EPHRATA — Melissa Shelby Mattingly, 48, of Moses Lake was sentenced after entering guilty pleas on six felony charges — and thanked the court for compassion and said that her arrest was a blessing.

“I think my arrest probably saved my life, and although I am facing an exorbitant amount of time away from my children and my parents, I know that I am lucky to still have my life, and I hope that I can at least use my experiences to let other people know that this is the result of fentanyl,” Mattingly said prior to sentencing. 

Her experience began many years ago when she was prescribed opioids for a medical issue, Mattingly said. Over time, that became more severe and led to the use of heroin and eventually, fentanyl. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for those aged 18 to 45 in the United States. Of those, roughly 70% are associated with fentanyl. 

Mattingly said she was aware of that danger and that is how being arrested had saved her and she hoped that treatment, while incarcerated, would help her get her life back. 

“If you don’t die from an overdose, it will take your life anyway,” she said. “It will take your life and in whatever way it can, and if I can get that message to anyone, and it helps them along the way, then maybe I’ll feel like I’ve had some purpose. So, I’m going to be in prison, but even people in prison can have purpose.” 

Superior Court Judge Tyson Hill thanked Mattingly for her statements and wished her success in her addiction treatment prior to handing down a sentence of 225.75 months — just less than 19 years in prison — for six charges. 

According to court records, those charges include theft in the second degree, robbery in the first degree, attempted robbery in the first degree, criminal impersonation in the first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree, all of which Mattingly pleaded guilty to. 

Mattingly’s attorney, Tyson Lang, said she has charges in another jurisdiction that she’ll be facing. Additionally, Mattingly is concerned about ailing family and family members she feels won’t be around after she gets out of prison. The plea and recommended sentencing had taken those issues into account, he said. 

“And so, there was a lot of emotion and a lot of soul searching in order to get to this situation,” Lang said. “The client did want the court to note that, prior to these crimes, she doesn’t have any violent history, that her old criminal history from out of state were all nonviolent or financial offenses, so this is a big turning point for her, and I don’t think we’ll see her back here (after this case is resolved).” 

According to statements from investigating officers, those charges stemmed from a January 2022 incident wherein Mattingly stole items from a Moses Lake sporting goods store and bank robberies, among other issues.

Court records indicate that Mattingly has a criminal history, mostly in Arkansas, with those mostly being associated with forgery or theft of some sort. None of those in Grant County Superior Court records appeared to be violent.

Mattingly said addiction was a significant factor in her criminal history and that she took the situation and choices seriously, as well as responsibility for her actions despite the chemical dependency issues.

“I don’t want you to think that I am here today without a cognizant understanding of exactly how serious these charges are, because I do understand that fully. I also want you to understand, because of the amount of time I’m going to be spending (in prison), what brought me to this point. And even though these charges don’t fully reflect it, it’s 100% because of an opiate addiction. I have struggled with opiate addiction off and on for the last about 30 years; starting out with being overprescribed from a physician, going into heroin use, and most recently, into fentanyl,” she said. 

R. Hans “Rob” Miller may be reached at editor@columbiabasinherald.com.

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