Drugs, but no socks

By RALPH BARTHOLDT

Staff Writer

A Post Falls man who had a vial of testosterone and a large pitbull in his vehicle when he was arrested April 14 near Motel 6 in Coeur d’Alene has waived his probable cause hearing and been sent to felony court on a heroin trafficking charge.

Jean-Luc D. LaVe, 27, faces one felony count of trafficking heroin, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He will have a chance to enter a plea at his June 6 arraignment in First District Court.

Coeur d’Alene police got a tip from a sockless man sitting on a park bench in the breezeway of the motel before midnight April 14 that he was waiting for a man named Jean-Luc. Finding the exchange odd, police waited nearby and stopped a maroon Jeep Cherokee that entered the motel parking lot from Appleway Avenue without using a turn signal.

LaVe, who was on felony probation, was driving the 1990 Cherokee on his way to meet the sockless man, police said.

A police K9 sniffed the vehicle and alerted for the possession of narcotics, according to police, and LaVe’s probation officer authorized officers to check the suspect. Police allegedly found 2.7 grams of heroin, a trace of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in a cloth bag stuffed into the groin area of LaVe’s underwear during the body search.

LaVe removed the pitbull from the Jeep and allowed officers to conduct a search of the vehicle finding a vial of testosterone and several syringes, including a used syringe in the center console, according to police.

LaVe told police he had picked up the heroin from a supplier in Spokane and was on his way to deliver it to the sockless man, who was not charged in the incident, according to a police report in court records. A Coeur d’Alene animal control officer was called to take possession of the pitbull.

LaVe is being held in the Kootenai County jail without bond. The prosecutor’s office has filed a separate civil action against the Jeep Cherokee, which is valued at $1,000, according to court records. If a default judgment is filed against the vehicle, it will belong to the county.