Suspended sentence for creator of Hunted and Confronted
Ralph Bartholdt Staff Writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 3 months AGO
The creator of Hunted and Confronted, a nationally broadcasted program that targets pedophiles, will serve two years on probation for his heroin addiction.
Jesse Weeks, 29, whose Hunted and Confronted Facebook group gained national prominence on reality TV and television news channels, was sentenced Monday in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court to two years supervised probation as part of a suspended three-year prison sentence.
Weeks was arrested last spring after he overdosed on heroin at his mother’s Post Falls home.
At Monday’s hearing, prosecutors said Weeks was released from jail to attend community-based drug rehabilitation, but he had on several occasions tested positive for opioid use. Prosecutors asked First District Judge Scott Wayman to send Weeks to a prison rehab program as part of his sentence.
Weeks told the court the opioids found in his system were a result of prescription codeine from his doctor. His attorney, John Redal, said Weeks was staying true to the regime laid out by the court.
Weeks got hooked on opioids in painkillers, he said, following a severe injury as a teenager.
“I never drank, or smoked marijuana ... I had a 3.5 GPA,” Weeks said. “But I ended up with an opiate addiction.”
Deputies who responded to Weeks’ residence on South Greensferry Road in May said family members had locked Weeks — who had a previous drug conviction — out of his house after they discovered he had used heroin.
Weeks told deputies that he was an addict, had relapsed, and the black tar heroin and paraphernalia authorities found in his bedroom belonged to him.
He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, which can carry up to seven years in prison.
On Monday, Wayman sentenced Weeks to an 18-month fixed prison term as part of a 36-month sentence.
The judge said Weeks was given the opportunity to kick drugs through community-based rehab and that he should be allowed to complete the program. If he fails, the prison sentence could be imposed.
Weeks started Hunted and Confronted in 2018 to help police catch adults who solicit sex from teenagers online. An interstate truck driver by profession, Weeks last year said his group turned more than 18 cases over to authorities.
MORE FRONT-PAGE-SLIDER STORIES
ARTICLES BY RALPH BARTHOLDT STAFF WRITER

Traffic fatalities on Super Bowl Sundays? Nope
Super Bowl Sunday may invoke images of tailgating and revelry that exceed the merriment of other annual sporting events, but local law enforcement aren’t kicking off special patrols to tackle errant — or intoxicated — drivers.

Isenberg: No plea at murder hearing
Her shackles jangling, Lori Isenberg walked in single file with other inmates into a downtown Coeur d’Alene courtroom Tuesday afternoon, wearing red, high-security jail pajamas and shower shoes.

Police: Man sought in assault case
The 53-year-old man who likely died during a standoff with police this week in Post Falls was wanted for failing to appear at his sentencing hearing after being convicted for assaulting a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses.