A lengthy drug trafficking investigation recently resulted in the arrest of a Bonners Ferry man.

Timothy O’Neal Petefish, 50, appeared Monday in Lincoln County District Court and pleaded not guilty to four felony counts. They include two counts of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs, criminal possession of drugs with intent to distribute and use or possession of property subject to criminal forfeiture.

He is being held in the Lincoln County Detention Center on $250,000 bail. His next court hearing will be Oct. 20.

According to the charging document filed by Deputy Lincoln County Attorney Jeff Zwang, the investigation began May 4 when county Det. Brandon Holzer conducted a controlled purchase of methamphetamine, allegedly from Petefish.

Holzer was working with an agent from the Northwest Montana Drug Taskforce and a confidential source. Accoding to court documents, the confidential source met Petefish and the agent saw the defendant hand the source a plastic bag that allegedly held 28.7 grams of a substance that field tested positive for meth.

According to court documents, the source and Taskforce agent met Petefish on May 21. The defendant allegedly handed the source a black object that contained 57 grams of a crystal material that field tested positive for meth.

Then, on May 28, Det. Holzer received information that Petefish was allegedly transporting more meth to Lincoln County. Law officers found Petefish at the state weigh station at the intersection of Highway 56 and U.S. 2. They seized his black Ford F350 truck and Holzer applied for a search warrant for the vehicle.

A day later, May 29, a search allegedly turned up .53 pounds, about 240 grams, of a substance that tested positive for meth.

A conviction for criminal distribution of dangerous drugs may result in a maximum term of 25 years in the Montana State Prison. For possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute, the maximum sentence is 20 years. Ten years is the maximum on the forfeiture charge.