UPDATE 1/05: Sherry Johnston pleaded not guilty Monday to drug charges:
A Palmer grand jury on Friday indicted Sherry Johnston on six felony counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance relating to possession and sale of the prescription painkiller OcyContin.
She admitted selling OxyContin pills to someone working with investigators, according to state troopers. They arrested her Dec. 18 at her Wasilla home, then released her on bail.
Johnston was alone and was represented by a public defender.
The Anchorage Daily News reports that Sherry Johnston, mother of Levi Johnston, was arrested on Thursday:
A 42-year-old Wasilla woman was arrested Thursday at her home by Alaska State Troopers with a search warrant in an undercover drug investigation. Sherry L. Johnston was charged with six felony counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance.
Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, the Wasilla 18-year-old who received international attention in September when Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, announced their teenage daughter was pregnant and he was the father. Bristol Palin, 18, is due on Saturday, according to a recent interview with the governor's father, Chuck Heath.
Politico adds that Johnston has been released from the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility on a $2,000 bond.
When asked about the arrest, Sarah Palin's spokesman, Bill McAllister, issued the following statement to the ADN: "This is not a state government matter. Therefore the governor's communications staff will not be providing comment or scheduling interview opportunities."
What kind of controlled substance? The news reports don't say, but 23/6 has a poll: does Johnston run a meth lab?