FARMINGTON — A Farmington woman pleaded guilty to a lesser drug charge on Friday for illegally possessing methadone, a narcotic pain killer, last summer.

Justice Michaela Murphy sentenced Billie Jo Elliott, 37, to serve five days of a two-year sentence and 18 months of probation, after she pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful possession of a scheduled drug in Franklin County Superior Court.

Elliott was given credit for time served and will not spend time in jail. The charge has a maximum penalty of five years in prison. She was also ordered to pay a $500 fine and not possess or use illegal drugs during her probation and undergo a substance abuse evaluation and counseling.

Elliott was initially charged with a higher level felony trafficking in scheduled drugs that carried up to 10 years in prison, but the charge was reduced in a plea agreement with the state.

She was a co-defendant in the August 2009 case with her husband, Christopher Elliott, who is now in jail.

The married couple was arrested on the drug charge during an ongoing investigation into unlawful prescription narcotic drug sales in the area, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Supervisor Gerry Baril said last year.

During a joint investigation conducted by Maine State Police and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, evidence was collected and probable cause was developed that some of the diverted pharmaceuticals originated from the Elliott’s Farmington residence, Baril previously said.

Among the items police seized from the couple’s home were 59 tablets of methadone, he said.

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