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THOMPSON FALLS - The administrative assistant to the Sanders County Commission was arrested this week at her desk on a charge of accountability to distribute marijuana.
Jackie Dean, 53, has been the commissioners' administrative assistant for more than 10 years. She was arrested early Tuesday afternoon, while the county commissioners were meeting in an adjoining room, Sanders County Sheriff Gene Arnold said Friday.
Court documents allege that Dean collected payments for marijuana sold to a confidential informant by her sister and others out of a video store in Trout Creek, about 20 miles west of Thompson Falls.
It is not alleged that Dean had marijuana in her possession. Four other people were arrested in Trout Creek as part of the actual distribution ring, including Dean's sister and brother-in-law, Arnold said.
Carol Brooker, commissioner from Plains, said the county attorney came into the reception area where Dean worked about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and closed the door between that area and the commissioners' meeting room. The county attorney then told the commissioners of the arrest of their employee on a drug charge.
Dean was booked at the jail and later released on her own recognizance because she is not considered a flight risk, and because of her long work history with the county, the sheriff said.
"We are all pretty shocked," Brooker said Friday.
"Shock - no other way to describe it," said Harold "Hank" Laws, commissioner from Thompson Falls.
The commissioners subsequently placed Dean on administrative leave with pay, pending further investigation by law enforcement.
A part-time employee who has filled in for Dean in the past will be handling her job for now, Brooker said. Other replacements are also available in the courthouse secretarial pool, Laws said.
Since the early 1990s, Dean has served as the administrative assistant, greeting visitors, taking messages, returning phone calls, posting agendas, taking minutes during public meetings, handling correspondence and doing other administrative and secretarial duties as required.
The charge against Dean alleges she received payments for marijuana sold by others involved in a marijuana distribution operation run from a video store in Trout Creek owned by Dean's sister and brother-in-law.
Shortly after Dean was taken to jail in Thompson Falls, sheriff's investigators, aided by police from Plains and Thompson Falls plus a state Criminal Investigation Division narcotics agent and a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department game warden, served search warrants at Bulldog Video and Deli in Trout Creek, and at Dean's sister's residence. They arrested Dean's sister, Debra Arlene Rogers, 49; her husband, John James Rogers, 52; the couple's daughter, Susan Jean Rogers Nameth, 34, and Tina Marie Spiegel, 44, a store employee.
The four were charged with criminal distribution of dangerous drugs.
The four were held on varying bonds, ranging from $65,000 each for Debra and John Rogers to $10,000 each for Susan Nameth and Tina Spiegel. All four had posted bond by Friday and had been released, Arnold said.
Bond was set at a brief court appearance Wednesday before Justice of the Peace Bob Beitz.
Sanders County Attorney Robert Zimmerman said in a court document that marijuana, firearms, money and records were seized from the Rogers' residence in the search.
The investigation was handled primarily by Arnold and a reserve deputy from Plains, Richard Dowdy, who has been acting as the sheriff department's principal narcotics investigator since Sanders County withdrew from the Northwest Drug Task Force last year because of budget constraints.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the informant told investigators that he had been purchasing marijuana from the Rogers family for a number of years.
"The marijuana was fronted (the informant was not required to pay for the marijuana at the time it was obtained it) to the informant who then sold it and paid Debbie Rogers later from the proceeds of the informant's sales," Zimmerman said in the affidavit.
Generally, Debbie Rogers handled the transactions, but John Rogers did so on occasion, according to the affidavit. Spiegel and Susan Rogers allegedly helped out and were present during some of the transactions.
The informant made a marijuana purchase July 27, and another on Aug. 3, the affidavit said. The Rogerses were nervous about possible law enforcement surveillance and investigations, and Debbie Rogers told the informant that John Rogers "had really freaked out."
Arnold said the investigation has been going on for several months, and that an undercover officer was involved. He said the investigation is continuing.
Arraignment of the five defendants will be Aug. 17 in Sanders County District Court in Thompson Falls, Arnold said.
The Missoulian
By JOHN STROMNES
August 07, 2004
jstromnes@missoulian.com
© 2004 Missoulian
Sanders County assistant faces drug charge
Jackie Dean, 53, has been the commissioners' administrative assistant for more than 10 years. She was arrested early Tuesday afternoon, while the county commissioners were meeting in an adjoining room, Sanders County Sheriff Gene Arnold said Friday.
Court documents allege that Dean collected payments for marijuana sold to a confidential informant by her sister and others out of a video store in Trout Creek, about 20 miles west of Thompson Falls.
It is not alleged that Dean had marijuana in her possession. Four other people were arrested in Trout Creek as part of the actual distribution ring, including Dean's sister and brother-in-law, Arnold said.
Carol Brooker, commissioner from Plains, said the county attorney came into the reception area where Dean worked about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and closed the door between that area and the commissioners' meeting room. The county attorney then told the commissioners of the arrest of their employee on a drug charge.
Dean was booked at the jail and later released on her own recognizance because she is not considered a flight risk, and because of her long work history with the county, the sheriff said.
"We are all pretty shocked," Brooker said Friday.
"Shock - no other way to describe it," said Harold "Hank" Laws, commissioner from Thompson Falls.
The commissioners subsequently placed Dean on administrative leave with pay, pending further investigation by law enforcement.
A part-time employee who has filled in for Dean in the past will be handling her job for now, Brooker said. Other replacements are also available in the courthouse secretarial pool, Laws said.
Since the early 1990s, Dean has served as the administrative assistant, greeting visitors, taking messages, returning phone calls, posting agendas, taking minutes during public meetings, handling correspondence and doing other administrative and secretarial duties as required.
The charge against Dean alleges she received payments for marijuana sold by others involved in a marijuana distribution operation run from a video store in Trout Creek owned by Dean's sister and brother-in-law.
Shortly after Dean was taken to jail in Thompson Falls, sheriff's investigators, aided by police from Plains and Thompson Falls plus a state Criminal Investigation Division narcotics agent and a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department game warden, served search warrants at Bulldog Video and Deli in Trout Creek, and at Dean's sister's residence. They arrested Dean's sister, Debra Arlene Rogers, 49; her husband, John James Rogers, 52; the couple's daughter, Susan Jean Rogers Nameth, 34, and Tina Marie Spiegel, 44, a store employee.
The four were charged with criminal distribution of dangerous drugs.
The four were held on varying bonds, ranging from $65,000 each for Debra and John Rogers to $10,000 each for Susan Nameth and Tina Spiegel. All four had posted bond by Friday and had been released, Arnold said.
Bond was set at a brief court appearance Wednesday before Justice of the Peace Bob Beitz.
Sanders County Attorney Robert Zimmerman said in a court document that marijuana, firearms, money and records were seized from the Rogers' residence in the search.
The investigation was handled primarily by Arnold and a reserve deputy from Plains, Richard Dowdy, who has been acting as the sheriff department's principal narcotics investigator since Sanders County withdrew from the Northwest Drug Task Force last year because of budget constraints.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the informant told investigators that he had been purchasing marijuana from the Rogers family for a number of years.
"The marijuana was fronted (the informant was not required to pay for the marijuana at the time it was obtained it) to the informant who then sold it and paid Debbie Rogers later from the proceeds of the informant's sales," Zimmerman said in the affidavit.
Generally, Debbie Rogers handled the transactions, but John Rogers did so on occasion, according to the affidavit. Spiegel and Susan Rogers allegedly helped out and were present during some of the transactions.
The informant made a marijuana purchase July 27, and another on Aug. 3, the affidavit said. The Rogerses were nervous about possible law enforcement surveillance and investigations, and Debbie Rogers told the informant that John Rogers "had really freaked out."
Arnold said the investigation has been going on for several months, and that an undercover officer was involved. He said the investigation is continuing.
Arraignment of the five defendants will be Aug. 17 in Sanders County District Court in Thompson Falls, Arnold said.
The Missoulian
By JOHN STROMNES
August 07, 2004
jstromnes@missoulian.com
© 2004 Missoulian
Sanders County assistant faces drug charge
