Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Biddle goes back to prison

Parole revoked for second felony conviction


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Gretchen Fay Biddle

Twice-convicted felon Gretchen Fay Biddle will be spending at least the next five months in prison rather than at a halfway house in Idaho Falls.

The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole revoked parole for Biddle following a hearing last Wednesday in Pocatello. Biddle is now listed as an inmate in Cell Block 3 of the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center.

Biddle was convicted in Blaine County in 2003 for felony possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to five years in prison. She was out on parole when arrested again in April 2007 for entering a home in Hailey and stealing prescription cough medicine.

At sentencing on Monday, Feb. 25, 5th District Court Judge Robert J. Elgee sentenced Biddle to four years probation for burglary and ordered that she be placed in a halfway house in Idaho Falls for rehabilitation of drug problems.

Olivia Craven, executive director of the parole commission, said Tuesday that Biddle will be eligible for another parole hearing in August. In the meantime, she will receive a mental health evaluation and will be offered various programs to help her get her life together.

� "We will see her in August and consider putting her in a group mental health home," Craven said.

Biddle gained notoriety in Blaine County in 2005 when she claimed she had had a sexual relationship with former Deputy Michael Lance while incarcerated in the Blaine County Jail. Lance committed suicide in August of that year after he became the subject of an investigation into Biddle's allegations.

Clarification: Biddle pleaded guilty last April to felony burglary, rather than possession of a controlled substance as reported in the Feb. 27 edition of the Idaho Mountain Express.




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