Friday, January 31, 2025
23.0°F

Accused meth dealer facing more charges

Keith KINNAIRD<br | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 15 years AGO
by Keith KINNAIRD<br
| January 22, 2010 8:00 PM

SANDPOINT — The state is bringing another case against an accused methamphetamine dealer as the defense works to strip evidence from the original case.

Leslie Rae O’Neil was charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance this week for alleged drug transactions that took place a month before the transactions she awaiting trial on.

O’Neil, a 34-year-old from Careywood, was originally arrested last August on charges of possession with intent to deliver and meth trafficking.

But it was revealed during discovery that detectives planted a Global Positioning System device on her vehicle to track her comings and goings in the weeks leading up to her arrest in a Sagle trailer park.

The tracking device was planted while she was meeting with her probation officer, according to court records.

O’Neil’s defense counsel, Doug Phelps, successfully forced Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank to disclose reports and maps from the GPS surveillance, court documents show.

Phelps subsequently moved to suppress evidence gained during O’Neil’s arrest, arguing that the state never obtained a warrant to plant the tracking device and never mentioned using the satellite technology when seeking warrants against O’Neil.

A hearing on the suppression motion is set for next month.

After the motion was filed, two new meth charges were filed against O’Neil. They stem from alleged drug sales last July in which a confidential informant was used, court documents indicate.

O’Neil’s trial in the original case, which involved 55 grams of meth, is set for March. A preliminary hearing in the newer case is pending.

The state is prosecuting O’Neil as a persistent violator because of a prior drug-dealing conviction in Sanders County, Mont., and a 2008 conviction in Bonner County for possessing meth. If convicted, O’Neil faces a sentence of five years to life in prison.

MORE IMPORTED STORIES

Accused meth dealer sentenced
Bonner County Daily Bee | Updated 16 years, 3 months ago
Miller suing over forced catheterization
Bonner County Daily Bee | Updated 16 years, 9 months ago
Repeat meth suspect sought
Bonner County Daily Bee | Updated 14 years, 7 months ago

ARTICLES BY KEITH KINNAIRD<BR

September 30, 2010 9 p.m.

Appeals court rules in cattle truck spill case

SANDPOINT — Idaho’s Court of Appeals is upholding the vacated judgment against a Canadian cattle truck driver accused of spilling a mixture of feces, urine and rainwater on U.S. Highway 95 in Boundary County.

October 21, 2010 9 p.m.

Constitutional amendments on Nov. 2 ballot

SANDPOINT — Idaho voters will get a chance to weigh in on Idaho constitutional amendments concerning funding for the University of Idaho and public airports, hospitals and electrical systems.

May 13, 2010 9 p.m.

Man with child porn arrested by Border Patrol

PORTHILL — A United States citizen was arrested earlier this month after allegedly getting his car stuck while attempting to sneak into Canada with a laptop computer containing child pornography.