Alleged money launderer arrested

COEUR d'ALENE - A 64-year-old Minnesota man was arrested on Tuesday for alleged money laundering as police seized $71,000 during a traffic stop.

Conrad W. Petersen, of Lyle, Minn., was booked into the Kootenai County jail for money laundering, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was being held on a $100,000 bond on Wednesday.

Kootenai County deputies stopped Petersen on westbound Interstate 90 near Cataldo after they saw the vehicle he was driving didn't have license plates and the suspect was allegedly driving unsafely.

During the stop, deputies noticed that Petersen was visibly shaking and found a bag with $71,000, marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the Cadillac car.

Petersen, who is unemployed, told a deputy that he intended to buy a motor home in Seattle with the money, according to reports.

A receipt for $405 worth of fertilizer and plant nutrients was found during the car search.

"It appeared to me that Petersen was planning on or already had a marijuana growing operation, and the found money was the proceeds from selling his product," a deputy wrote in his report.

While counting the money at a bank, the deputy said the currency smelled like marijuana, it was wrapped in a way that is associated with drug sales and bundled in $1,000 stacks, according to the report.

The deputy said he arrested Petersen for money laundering because Petersen allegedly lied about the amount of money in the vehicle, drugs were in the vehicle, marijuana odor on the money, the fertilizer receipt and Petersen lacked documentation for having the money or what he intended to buy with it.