Sheriff's investigators arrested a suspected methamphetamine dealer this week after a month's long investigation that yielded not only drugs but three guns.

His Spokane Valley home's backyard is connected to the playground of Trentwood Elementary School.

Gang and drug detectives obtained search warrants for the Eric D. Rangel's home, vehicle and person after a confidential informant bought methamphetamine from Rangel several times.

Police arrested Rangel, 26, Wednesday at East Eighth Avenue and South Carnahan Road in Spokane Valley and seized his car. He had methamphetamine and $3,400 on him, as well as two .9 mm pistols and additional meth in the car.

Detectives searched his home Thursday in the 4900 block of North Calvin Road and seized more meth, as well as heroin, hydrocodone, marijuana, a.12 gauge shotgun and .9 mm ammunition.

Rangel told detectives he sells meth in the Valley, according to a news release by Deputy Craig Chamberlin, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

He also admitted to leaving a stolen firearm in a motel room where he'd briefly stayed. Deputies had recently recovered the firearm, which Rangel said he'd obtained in exchange for meth.

Rangel has felony convictions that prohibit him from possessing weapons.

Spokane police are investigating why an Oklahoma fugitive ended up here with a large amount of marijuana and cash.

Police on Friday obtained a search warrant for Mitchell R. Green, Jr.'s cellphone in hopes it will lead to what they suspect is a marijuana trafficking ring.

Green, 28, told U.S. Marshals he was a Crips gang member when they arrested him near East 11th Avenue and South Perry Street on April 17, according to police.

Agents here were tracking Green after he escaped from a halfway house in Oklahoma and investigators developed information he was in Spokane.

Spokane police were called to the scene to collect a large bag of marijuana that was found in Green's pants. Agents later found another bag of marijuana in his pants pocket while they were processing him at the office, then found $900 hidden in his sock. Spokane police responded to the federal office to collect the cash and additional marijuana.

Spokane police Detective Devin Presta noted numerous gang-related tattoos on Green and noted the marijuana bag found in his pants was wrapped in a blue bandanna. He said Green refused to identity what sect of Crips he's a member of, but Presta suspects the bandanna may be related to his affiliation.

Presta said Green had never been contacted here prior to April 17 and “had no apparent reason for being in Spokane,” according to the search warrant.

A 78-year-old man who allowed drug traffickers to use his property just south of the Canadian border in Ferry County has pleaded guilty.

Alvin Oliver Shields had 700 pounds of marijuana on his property when federal agents searched it in 2009. Now he faces 30 to 42 months in prison under a plea agreement approved this week in U.S. District Court in Spokane. He's to be sentenced on Aug. 9.

Federal agents began investigating Shields in 2003 after a Border Patrol agent found four duffel bags with 140 pounds of marijuana after four people ran from Fourth of July Creek Road, west of Danville, into Canada.
The agent then saw Shields “driving slowly in a van with the rear cargo doors propped open,” according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court.

Then in 2008, a multi-agency investigation determined Shields was letting marijuana traffickers in Canada transport the pot to his property, where it was then taken to Spokane and stored for distribution by U.S. drug traffickers, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Along with 700 pounds of pot, agents found evidence of hidden cash transactions and money laundering when they searched Shields' property in May 2009. They also learned Shields hadn't filed federal income tax returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Shields, who prosecutors said lived in Canada for 30 years, has since moved to Lebanon, Ore.

He pleaded guilty Tuesday in Spokane to money laundering, structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements, conspiracy to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana (dating back to 2003) and three counts of failure to file income tax returns. He's out jail awaiting sentencing.

“Investigations involving the integrity of the United States borders and federal income tax violators are vigorously pursued in this District,” according to a prepared statement by Michael Ormsby, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. “Alvin Oliver Shields’ guilty pleas are the result of effective Federal, state, local and Canadian law enforcement partnerships.”

Another Danville resident, Harold Oscar Strandberg, was indicted in 2010 after two Canadian pot smugglers, William Richard Paterson and Jahrum David Oakes, were arrested with large amounts of marijuana at Strandberg's Fourth of July Creek Road property.

Strandberg pleaded guilty in March 2011 and is on probation for three years.

A homeowner in Medical Lake accused of shooting a fleeing 14-year-old burglary suspect in the back last December has been charged with assault.

In new court documents, Spokane County sheriff’s detectives outline a shooting they believe went beyond homeowner Justin Jeffrey Brown defending his property and crossed the line to criminal assault.

Read the rest of my story here.

A Coeur d'Alene man involved in a large cocaine distribution ring that was based in part out of a Sherman Avenue bar has been sentenced to four years in prison. 

Christopher McFarland, 49, (left) also is to be on probation for five years and has forfeited his ownership interest in the bar.

McFarland worked with James Roy “Slim” O'Neill, who was sentenced in April 2011 to 15 years in prison.

O'Neill's wife, Lecia Donita O'Neill, 46, (right) , also was sentenced Monday to a year and a day in prison, followed by ten months of home confinement and eight years of probation.

 The sentencings in U.S. District Court close a case that began with arrests in May 2010.

“Slim” O'Neill, 50, (left) was the kingpin of a cocaine distribution ring that supplied the drug in North Idaho for at least a decade and operated partly out of Chillers bar on Sherman Avenue near South 20th Street.

O'Neill also grew marijuana near Mineral Ridge, a popular hiking area with a spectacular view of Lake Coeur d'Alene.

The O’Neills used proceeds from cocaine and marijuana sales to finance an expensive lifestyle, including cars, recreational vehicles and annual trips to NASCAR's Daytona 500 race in Florida.

Co-defendant Gary A. Votava was sentenced last year to two years in prison and four years probation. Stephen J. McCabe was sentenced to 18 months in prison and five years probation. Debra L. Margraff was sentenced to five months in prison and three years probation.

Manuel Rivera, who supplied cocaine to O'Neill from Kennewick, was sentenced to 108 months in prison.

“Those who bring cocaine or other illegal drugs into our communities will be brought to justice,” Wendy Olson, U.S. attorney for Idaho, said in a prepared statement.  “Yesterday’s sentencing marks the end of a successful investigation.  It is a victory for our communities.  I commend the cooperative law enforcement work that ended this long-lasting drug trafficking operation.”

Authorities began investigating O'Neill after finding his phone number in former school booster and imprisoned cocaine addict Jerry Carlson's phone records.. Carlson is to be released from federal prison on May 1.

This Dec. 18, 1984 file photo shows Don Nichols, right, standing with his son, Dan Nichols, left, as they pled not guilty in court in Virginia City, Mont. Standing with them is attorney, Steve Ungar. (AP Photo/File)

By MATT GOURAS,Associated Press
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — One of the infamous “mountain men” who in the 1980s eluded authorities for five months by living in the wilderness is on the run from the law again — and considered “armed and dangerous.”

The U.S. attorney's office in Montana has filed federal drug and weapons charges against Dan Nichols, who with his father was convicted in kidnaping a world class athlete in 1984, killing a would-be rescuer and hiding in the remote mountains northwest of Yellowstone National Park.

An indictment unsealed Wednesday alleges Nichols and two other men were involved in a statewide marijuana distribution ring that netted nearly $1.8 million. The news comes as his 81-year-old father, Don, comes up for a parole hearing next week.

Federal marshals said they are now looking for the younger Nichols, who was previously wanted in state court for not appearing earlier this year on relatively minor drug charges filed after his arrest at a rock concert. The new federal charges allege a much larger conspiracy.

“He should definitely be considered armed and dangerous,” said Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for Montana, Rod Ostermiller. “He is obviously someone who hasn't been compliant with law enforcement in the past.”

Ostermiller wouldn't say whether authorities believe Nichols has taken to the woods again. But he warned the public to be wary of the 5-foot-11, 150-pound Nichols.

“I think there is some definite safety issues involved regarding this individual,” the marshal said. “That is just one thing we can't stress enough.”

The original, bizarre crime gripped the state and the nation when the father and son abducted world-class biathlete Kari Swenson in 1984 while she was on a training run in the mountains above the resort town of Big Sky. The elder Nichols was reportedly looking for a wife for his then 19-year-old son.

The so-called mountain men had been living continuously in the woods for a year prior to the abduction, growing hidden makeshift gardens, poaching game and generally staying out of sight.

The scheme quickly fell apart when would-be rescuers stumbled upon the camp. In the melee, Dan Nichols accidentally shot Swenson. An armed standoff ensued, and the elder Nichols gunned down Alan Goldstein.

The Nichols evaded capture by living in the Madison Range, until they surrendered when a Madison County sheriff caught up with them.

Swenson, despite diminished lung capacity from the gunshot wound, went on to win a bronze medal in the world biathlon championships.

The new charges against Nichols include allegations the felon illegally amassed dozens of rifles, assault weapons, pistols, and shotguns while engaged in drug crimes. Christopher Wayne Williams and Christopher Lindsey, two of the five co-founders of the now-shuttered Montana Cannabis statewide medical marijuana operation, are also charged, but they are not on the run.

Drug Enforcement Administration agent Wesley Smith said Thursday at a sentencing of Richard Flor, another Montana Cannabis co-founder, that Nichols worked for Williams at the operation's Helena marijuana nursery overseeing the care of hundreds of pot plants.

Federal agents raided the nursery as part of a crackdown on medical marijuana operations last year, and Smith said agents found a handgun in the camper that Nichols had been living in next to the nursery.

Federal authorities say the trio was involved in an operation that grew and sold marijuana in several Montana cities from 2006 until 2011. This came at a time when many in the state thought they were legally running medical marijuana businesses under a state law.

All of the Montana Cannabis co-owners, who also ran the Montana Caregivers Association, have been indicted or pleaded guilty to federal drug charges.

A Coeur d'Alene man was arrested in southern Oregon Wednesday with 10 pounds of marijuana.

Robert J. Nuszkiewicz, 50, was stopped for a traffic violating about 9:30 a.m. on Interstate 5 near milepost 90 in the Canyonville area.

An Oregon State Police drug dog discovered the marijuana inside the van. Nuszkiewicz was the only occupant.

He was booked into the Douglas County Jail, then ordered to appear in Douglas County Circuit Court at a later date for unlawful possession and delivery of marijuana.

He has no serious criminal record in Idaho or Washington.

A medical marijuana patient arrested in Yakima Monday told authorities he provided marijuana to his three young children.

Troy Mallard Craig, 32, said two of his children also have medical marijuana cards, according to a complaint filed today in U.S. District Court.

Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration executed a search warrant at Craig's home in the 3300 block of Barge Street about 4:15 p.m. and seized 67 marijuana plants, bags of processed marijuana, a digital scale and several medical marijuana cards.

Craig said he'd been growing marijuana for about two years and giving it to five or six friends in exchange for “donations.”

“Craig admitted to providing marijuana in one form or another to all three of his children, ages 2, 5, and 7,” according to the complaint.

Craig remains jailed in Yakima after appearing before U.S. Magistrate James Hutton Tuesday.
  

This photo from Oregon State Police shows ten pounds of marijuana seized during a traffic stop involving three North Idaho residents near Bend, Ore., March 7.

Three North Idaho residents were stopped near Oregon last week with 10 pounds of marijuana, police said today.

Marcus George Heidenreich, 30, of Coeur d'Alene, (pictured) was arrested on drug charges after an Oregon State Police trooper found two pounds of marijuana in his suitcase and another eight pounds of pot in a box.

The search occurred March 7 about 3:40 p.m. near Bend after the trooper stopped a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee with Idaho plates for “a hazardous traffic violation” as it drove north on Highway 97 near milepost 145, police said.

Driver Shawn Lee Miller, 41, of Coeur d'Alene, was cited for unlawful possession and distribution of marijuana and ordered to appear in Deschutes County Circuit Court.

Passenger Shainsy Loree Miller, 34, of Athol, also was cited.

A Spokane man accused of robbing a woman at gunpoint the day after Christmas is wanted by Crime Stoppers after failing to show up for court. 

Nicholas M. Cornelius, 23, is charged with second-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment and residential burglary for the gunpoint attack at 2514 N. Wall St. Dec. 26.

Cornelius knew the woman through a friend, police say. He's accused of stealing marijuana from the home.

Cornelius was charged Feb. 14 and summonsed to court for an arraignment Wednesday, but he never showed up.

He's now wanted on a $25,000 warrant. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that lead to his capture.

Cornelius, 5-foot-10 and 230 pounds, last gave an address in the 7200 block of North Nevada Street.

Anyone with information his current location is asked to call 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online.

A driver with a suspended license who fled a traffic stop in his 2006 Ford Mustang was arrested on a bevy of charges late Sunday, officials said today.

David B. Middleton, 44, stopped his black Mustang near East Sprague Avenue and North Farr Road about 9:13 p.m. and reached toward the passenger's console as if he was complying with orders to show his documentation, but he suddenly drove off at a high rate of speed, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

Deputy Russ Olson joined Corporal Dave Ellis in the pursuit, which they ended near the 8800 block of Sprague as Middleton's exceeded 100 mph in the 35 mph zone, according to a news release.

Deputy Jason Karnitz spotted Middleton turn north into a parking lot of on Sprague, and he and Olson pinned Middleton's Mustang with their patrol cars as Middleton accelerated toward Karntiz, the sheriff's office said. Middleton resisted arrest and “received a small abrasion” when the deputies took him to the ground, according to the release.

Deputies say a bag from Middleton's Mustang was found on the ground about five feet from the passenger's door. It contained plastic baggies, glass pipes commonly used to smoke illegal narcotics, scales, a pellet gun and paperwork with Middleton’s name on it.

Middleton was booked into jail on felony charges of eluding police, second-degree assault, possession of meth with intent to deliver and possession of heroin. He also faces misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana, obstructing a police officer, resisting arrest and third-degree driving while suspended.

A 19-year-old man is to spend about seven years in prison for an armed robbery that was sparked by his fear of contracting herpes from a shared marijuana pipe.

Aziem L. Richardson pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree robbery for a July incident in which he invited the victims to an apartment at 1119 W. Augusta Ave., to smoke marijuana in celebration of his 19th birthday.

Richardson left after several minutes and returned with a shotgun and threatened the teens, telling them “I heard you or your girlfriend has herpes and we have been sharing a bong,” according to court documents. “If I get herpes, I'm going to kill you both.”

Richardson stole the men's cellphones and a wallet. He has juvenile convictions for robbery.

He was sentenced Monday to 87 months in prison by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza.

Eight pounds of marijuana and more than 1000 plants seized from a Spokane County home in November has led to federal charges against six suspects. 

A grand jury this month indicted Jerad J. Kynaston, 23 (pictured left), Samuel M. Doyle, 25 (pictured right); Brice C. Davis, Jayde D. Evans, 24; Tyler S. McKinley, 27; and Peter M. Magana, 23, on marijuana manufacturing charges for plants found Nov. 2 during a search at 11900 N. Judkins Road.

Along with eight pounds of pot, Spokane County sheriff's detectives found 695 marijuana plants and 500 plants that had recently been harvested.

Each plant is generally capable of yielding one-half to one-pound of marijuana, leading investigators to value the seized pot and plants between $1.2 million and $2.4 million.

 “Numerous medical marijuana provider forms were located at the residence,” Sgt. Dave Reagan said in a new release at the time. “One of the patients had previously contacted the Sheriff's Office and complained that he had contracted with an individual associated with the Judkins Road address for his medical marijuana supply, but that this individual was selling the marijuana to other people rather than supplying the patient. The Washington state medical marijuana law has recently been amended to allow up to ten individuals to form a co-op and grow up to 45 marijuana plants. ”

Detectives searched Doyle's home in the 10900 block of East 7th Avenue in Spokane Valley on Nov. 16.

All suspects except Davis pleaded not guilty to the charges last week in U.S. District Court and remain in the Spokane County Jail without bail.

Each charge carries 5 to 40 years in prison unless the defendant has a previous felony drug conviction, in which case the minimum sentence is 10 years.

Kynaston was convicted in Spokane County in 2009 for being in possession of five pounds of marijuana. He also was convicted in Sherman County, Oregon in 2010 for being in possession of more than 10 pounds of marijuana. Doyle is on probation for possessing 10 pounds of marijuana in Oregon.

Past coverage:

Nov. 21: 'Judge Judy' to feature Spokane pot defendant

The discovery of 24 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop in Oregon led police to arrest a suspected distributor in Spokane this week.

The investigation began when Kevin C. McKeag, 28, of Chattaroy, was arrested near Roseburg, Ore., Feb. 2 after a drug dog detected marijuana in his 2003 Dodge pickup during a stop on Interstate 5 about 5 p.m., according to the Oregon State Police.

Troopers found the marijuana in a hidden compartment in the truck. McKeag said he was traveling to Spokane to deliver the pot, according to police.

McKeag was transported to the Spokane office of the Drug Enforcement Administration after agreeing to cooperate with law enforcement. He told them he'd been transporting marijuana to Spokane from California for the past year to sell 12 or more pounds at a time to Jeremy Scott Thornton, according to court documents.

The Spokane Regional Drug Task Force arranged for McKeag to sell marijuana to Thornton, 35, in a monitored transaction on Feb. 3. Detectives then searched Thornton's home at 2509 E. Diamond Ave. Feb. 6 and arrested him on drug charges.

Thornton, a self-employed landscaper and avid disc golfer, left the Spokane County Jail Monday on $10,000 bond.

An Indiana man who grew marijuana in Latah County is to spend 18 months in federal prison under a sentence imposed this week in Coeur d'Alene.

Kevin Brett Waters, 45, said he planted 67 plants on co-defendant Dawn C. Wilson's property in Kamiah before leaving for Alaska in spring 2008 to go fishing. Authorities found about 175 pants on the property in August 2008. Wilson said she was caring for the plants while Waters was gone, police said.

Wilson, 54, was sentenced in June 2009 to 30 months in prison for conspiracy to manufacture 100 or more marijuana plants.

Waters, who moved back to Lebanon, Indiana, after his arrest, pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to manufacture between 5 and 10 kilograms of marijuana. In addition to 18 months in prison, he'll be probation for three years and is to perform 120 hours of community service.

He was sentenced Monday in Coeur d'Alene by U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge. A sentencing memorandum disecribed him as an active member of the Moose Lodge in Indiana who has worked as a mechanic, tree cutter, in the restaurant industry and on the fishing boats in Alaska.

The case was investigated by Nez Perce Tribal Police, the Clearwater County Sheriff's Office, the Idaho State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A southwestern Pennsylvania grandmother says she's no marijuana grower, just a woman who wanted something that would look pretty next to her tomatoes.

An 18-year-old man accused of carjacking a woman who was with her infant remains jailed on $40,000 bond.

Dustin M. Lange is accused of pointing a shotgun at Rachelle Bergman and “racking it” as she was trying to load her newborn baby into her 1998 Ford Escort about 8:40 p.m. Friday in the employee parking lot at Northern Lights Brewery, 1003 E. Trent Ave., police say.

Bergman told police Lange said he would “blast her” if the keys were not in the car, according to court documents prepared by police. Lange also pointed the gun at Bergman's friend Hannah Fretheim, police say. Bergman said she was able to get her 10-day-old son out of the car before Lange stole it.

Police found the Escort in the parking lot of a FedEx warehouse, 4220 E. Broadway Ave., where they say Lange ran through the building still staffed by employees and hid in a trailer at a loading dock.

Fretheim and Bergman identified Lange as the gunman, and police booked him into jail. Officers say they found seven small bags of marijuana and one larger bag, as well as a scale, with Lange after his arrest. They found the shotgun in the wheel well of a truck trailer.

Lange appeared before Superior Court Judge Annette Plese Tuesday on charges of theft of a motor vehicle, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, theft of a motor vehicle, first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and second-degree burglary (for the FedEx entry.)

Lange was convicted as a juvenile of taking a motor vehicle without permission on Nov. 10 - a day before his 18th birthday, police say.
  

A 14-year-old* boy was shot in the back when he tried to burglarize a marijuana grow room in Medical Lake on Monday, documents show.

The boy, who was in satisfactory condition after undergoing surgery to remove a .45-caliber bullet, ran from the room in the 600 block of North Grant Street early Monday with another 14-year-old boy after the homeowner, Justin J. Brown, yelled something similar to “what are you doing in my house?” according to a search warrant filed in Spokane County Superior Court.

 The boys dropped baseball bats, a screwdriver and a flashlight and ran just before a shot was fired and one of them dropped to the ground with a bullet wound to his lower back. Brown told police he awoke to a burglary alarm and “fired once at figures inside” the grow room after seeing someone moving inside, according to the warrant.

Brown told police chased after the intruders and found the shot boy sitting in the backyard about 15 feet from the room’s door. His wife called police.

The Spokesman-Review does not name juvenile criminal suspects unless they are charged as adults with serious felonies.

Brown told police he grew marijuana in the room but stopped when his medical authorization expired, according to the warrant, which was used to seize evidence from the property, including the handgun and baseball bats.

Investigators with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office will forward their investigation to the prosecutor’s office for a decision on whether to charge Brown.

The injured boy’s accomplice stole marijuana plants and buds from the same room Dec. 15, according to court documents.

*The Sheriff's Office first said the boy was 14, then said he was 13, but court records show his birthdate is in March of 1997, making him 14.

A teenager who was with the 13-year-old boy shot during a Monday burglary had stolen marijuana from the same home less than a week before.

The boy who was shot remains in satisfactory condition at a local hospital after undergoing surgery following the shooting in Medical Lake.

Read the rest of my story here.

This Dec. 13  photo released by the Oregon State Police shows the interior of a car driven by two men arrested Monday night after throwing marijuana out the window during a high-speed police chase.

EUGENE Ore. (AP) — An Oregon state trooper says he was giving chase at more than 100 mph when men in the car ahead ripped open half-pound bags of marijuana and began flinging it out of the window. 

Trooper Clay Core tells the Eugene Register-Guard that the pot was “pelting my car” as the chase continued north Monday night along Interstate 5 toward Eugene. 

Eventually, the car stopped, and officers detained Nathan Garza, 32, (left) and Joshua Edward Lutz, 33, (right) on several charges, including tampering with evidence.

Core says jettisoning the pot was an unsuccessful attempt to get rid of evidence.

Between the car and what officers found along the interstate, Core says, five pounds of pot was retrieved. And, Core says, officers worked Monday night and Tuesday morning to make sure they picked up all of it.

Meghann's disclaimer: When I was in high school, I worked with Lutz's ex-girlfriend and his sister at McDonald's in Corvallis, Ore.