By RYAN COLLINGWOOD

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Coeur d'Alene physician Stanley Toelle insists he had no idea the thousands of dollars he gave his Las Vegas stripper wife had gone into her $1.3 million-dollar drug empire.

A year after federal prosecutors charged Toelle, a gasteroentorologist, with conspiracy to launder money into Loren Toelle's six-state narcotics ring, the doctor has been slapped with two more felony charges.

According to a superseding indictment filed Wednesday, the 61-year-old will also face nine counts of money laundering and two counts of filing false tax returns.

The indictment lists nine deposits and withdrawals from Montana and North Dakota into Stanley Toelle's Coeur d'Alene bank account. It also notes when the couple filed tax returns in 2013, he "failed to disclose his wife, Loren Toelle, was engaged in the operation of business from which she derived gross receipts and sales."

Nicolas Vieth, Stanley Toelle’s attorney, said the new charges are far-reaching.

"They're taking into account everything they ever seized, including her dancing money which is completely obnoxious," Vieth told The Press on Thursday.

Vieth said he believes the charges are an attempt by the federal government to seize assets in a civil forfeiture, including; the $1.3 million as well as Stanley Toelle's Lake Coeur d'Alene and Las Vegas homes.

"They need a conviction for (Toelle) to forfeit," Vieth said.

Stanley and Loren Toelle were divorced in November. That same month, Loren, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and conspiracy to launder money. Drugs such as oxycodone, heroin and methamphetamine were moved around Nevada, California, Idaho, Washington, Montana and North Dakota from 2009 to 2016.

She faces a maximum of 40 years in prison on the drug charge and 20 years on the money laundering charge.

Of the 11 defendants connected to the conspiracy, Stanley Toelle is the only one who didn't enter a guilty plea.

According to court documents, Loren Toelle took an FBI polygraph test that confirmed she was telling the truth when stating Stanley was oblivious of her using his bank accounts for the drug ring.

The defense also filed a pretrial motion last month requesting any witness testimony saying Stanley Toelle "should have known" about the money and drug ring be deemed inadmissible in court. The trial is currently scheduled for March 6 but Vieth believes it will be pushed to June based on the new charges. 

"The fact is, there are smart people all over the world who have been taken advantage of," Vieth wrote, in the court documents. "Just because a person has a high IQ, went to college, or is a physician, does not equate to having a heightened sense of awareness from someone who has a lower IQ, did not go to college, or is not a physician. This court should take judicial notice in the fact that book ‘smart’ people are not always 'street smart.'"

Among the court documents is a notice of alibi, in which the defense states the case's witnesses are expected to say Stanley Toelle was never present for any of the drug deals.

The defense also believes Loren Toelle, while a stripper in Vegas, was having an affair with famous pro boxing analyst Al Bernstein. Court documents from the defense say Bernstein knew Loren and her family members were dealing drugs.

"After discovering this information, the FBI conducted an interview of Mr. Bernstein who admitted to the agents that: (1) he met Loren Toelle at a strip club in Las Vegas; (2) that he would give Loren money if she asked him for it and would also loan her money; (3) if she paid him back, it was with cash; (4) that he knew Loren and other family members were dealing illegal drugs; and (5) that he purchased oxycontin from them on several occasions,” Vieth wrote.

"Unfortunately, and even with this additional information that Dr. Toelle was truly not involved, the government continues to be unwilling to dismiss the matter and has indicated that they will proceed to trial on the theory that Dr. Toelle was ‘deliberately ignorant’ of his wife’s actions.”

But this wasn't Loren Toelle's first brush with the law during her marriage with Stanley Toelle.

In 2010, she was convicted in Kootenai County for delivery of narcotics and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation.

Stanley Toelle faces up to 20 years and a $500,000 fine for money laundering and three years and $100,000 fine for false tax returns.