An Idaho State Police trooper facing multiple charges in Kootenai County, including possessing more than 17,000 rounds of ISP ammunition, has been placed on administrative leave without pay.

Trooper Daniel Howard, 48, was charged April 9 with felony possession of stolen property and two misdemeanor citations of petit theft and possession of an untagged deer. The charges against Howard stem from a December 2013 warranted search of his Athol home, where Kootenai County Sheriff's detectives discovered the ammunition in a detached metal pole building.

In his investigation narrative, Detective Jerry Northrop wrote that when he and other detectives went inside the building, they observed a sheet of plywood standing upright along a wall. When the sheet of plywood was removed, detectives discovered "numerous" cardboard boxes that were labeled "ammunition."

According to the narrative, detectives stacked and counted the cardboard boxes of ammunition and approximately 16,080 rounds were found in the building. After reviewing the descriptions on the ammunition boxes, the detectives determined it was "all consistent with ammunition purchased and used by the Idaho State Police."

After the initial investigation, Northrop wrote that he then contacted Kootenai County District Court Judge Clark Peterson and obtained a warrant to go back to Howard's home and seize the ammunition.

On Dec. 19, 2013, Northrop and other Kootenai County Sheriff's detectives went to the Athol home to seize the ammunition. However, according to the narrative, the majority of the ammunition had been moved and detectives were only able to seize 85 rounds.

Northrop received a call the same day from Chris Bugbee, an attorney representing Howard. According to the narrative, Bugbee asked Northrop if "there was anything which he could facilitate to show that Daniel Howard was cooperating." Northrop asked Bugbee if he could facilitate the return of the missing ammunition to the sheriff's office.

"Bugbee agreed that this would be a positive thing for his client to do and indicated he would be contacting Daniel Howard and attempting to encourage its return to my custody," the narrative states.

On Dec. 20, private investigator Ted Pulver went to the sheriff's office and, according to the narrative, turned in "several open boxes of ammunition along with one sealed case of ammunition" to the office "at the behest of Bugbee."

"While I was carrying the ammunition, I noted that there were small pieces of dried grass in the open boxes and the container smelled of dried hay," the narrative states. "I recalled there was a large stack of hay bales under the northern lean-to of the metal pole building at the Howard residence."

However, "there was a lot more ammunition missing" and when Northrop asked Pulver about it, the private investigator, according to the narrative, said what he turned in was all that Howard had given him.

"The ammunition turned in by Pulver and not matched to the ammunition previously noted, would bring the total in excess of 17,000 rounds of ammunition and a value exceeding $6,806.31," the narrative states.

Based on the initial discovery of the ammunition, there are still 13,980 rounds of ammunition missing, Northrop wrote.

During the initial search, detectives also discovered the carcass of a whitetail deer. According to the investigation narrative, Howard had tags for the deer but failed to properly attach and validate it when he brought it back to his home.

Howard is also facing charges in Bonner County for misrepresenting the price of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle he purchased in Oregon and registered with the Bonner County Assessor's Office in 2013.

Investigators contacted the seller, a retired police officer, in Hood River, Oregon. He stated that he sold the bike to Howard for $19,000, but did not put the amount of the sale in the handwritten receipt, according to court documents.

It's alleged that Howard inserted the bogus sale amount on the receipt after the purchase. As a result, the taxes he paid amounted to $30, which deprived the state of more than $1,000 of tax revenue it should have received.

A preliminary hearing for the charges of forgery, grand theft, and using a fictitious name in a title application is scheduled for May 14 in the Bonner County District Court.

On May 15, Howard will be in Kootenai County District Court for a preliminary hearing on the charges related to the found ammunition and possession of the untagged deer.

State police spokeswoman Teresa Baker released a statement on Thursday indicating that Howard was placed on paid leave last December amid an internal investigation. In April, his leave was changed to unpaid.

Howard faces termination by ISP if convicted, the statement said.

Keith Kinnaird of the Bonner County Daily Bee contributed to this story.