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Utah man charged with trafficking meth

KAYE THORNBRUGH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 10 months AGO
by KAYE THORNBRUGH
Kaye Thornbrugh is a second-generation Kootenai County resident who has been with the Coeur d’Alene Press for six years. She primarily covers Kootenai County’s government, as well as law enforcement, the legal system and North Idaho College. | December 17, 2020 1:00 AM

POST FALLS — A man from Utah is charged with multiple felonies after police said he was found with meth in a stolen vehicle.

Zeth G. Bultez, 33, is charged with trafficking in meth, possession of a controlled substance and grand theft by possession of stolen property, all felonies. He is also charged with a persistent violator enhancement.

Police responded Monday night to a report of a suspicious person parked in the driveway of a Post Falls residence.

The person, identified as Bultez, was reportedly asleep in the driver’s seat when police arrived. He allegedly said he was on his way to California to visit family but later said he was traveling to Utah.

Bultez said he had borrowed the vehicle from a friend and did not know who the registered owner was, according to court documents. Police detained him in handcuffs.

A search of the vehicle allegedly yielded 29.4 grams of meth, a bottle containing a black liquid police said was heroin, homemade pills and other paraphernalia.

In Idaho, possessing between 28 and 200 grams of meth is considered trafficking, a felony punishable by a minimum of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Police determined the vehicle was reported stolen out of Montana, according to court documents.

Bultez was arrested at the scene.

Judge Timothy Van Valin ordered Tuesday that Bultez be held on $35,000 bail.

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