Video: Drug snitch tries to pull double-cross

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TACOMA, Wash. – A drug snitch who tried to pull a double-cross on federal agents in order to get a reduced sentence almost got away with it.

Tina Rivard was sentenced to four years in prison Friday for obstruction of justice because she lied to police in a major drug investigation.

Rivard, a Cowlitz County resident with a long rap sheet, plotted an elaborate scheme when she was arrested by drug officers last year.  In exchange for reduced jail time, Rivard agreed to lead police to her drug supplier, whom she identified as a Kelso man, by setting up a oxycodone deal while police listened in on this conversation.

Rivard: "How many are you going to give me?"

Dealer: "Well, you want a hundred."

Rivard: "And then how much you gonna charge me for them?" Like 30 bucks a piece?

Dealer: "Maybe 40-45."

Rivard: "Oh my God, dude."

Dealer: "Well, you know, what am I gonna do?"

Court records reveal Rivard took $4,000 in police money, and then returned with the pills.

Police arrested the Kelso man and locked him up. That's when his lawyer made a startling discovery. It turns out the dealer on the other end of the phone call was Tina Rivard's husband, Ryan. They set up the Kelso man.

Here's how the frame-up went down: Drug officers dialed the Kelso man's number on Tina Rivard's cell phone, and then handed it to her.  But she secretly pressed a speed dial to her husband's number and got him on the line.

Ryan Rivard insists the Kelso man actually is a dealer. When asked why, them, the couple would go to such lengths to set up a drug dealer, Ryan Rivard replied, "Well, that's confidential information."

Federal prosecutors now believe it was not only Ryan Rivard on the phone, but that he also supplied the pills that his wife gave to police to prove the deal went down. Felony drug dealing charges against the Kelso man were dismissed, but he's not totally clean. He admitted to possessing prescription drugs.

Ryan Rivard has yet to be sentenced for his role in the plot.