Alleged heroin dealer nabbed near French Gulch

A 36-year-old Coeur d’Alene man who allegedly sold heroin and methamphetamine to confidential police informants twice last month is in jail facing trafficking charges.

His attorney said Friday that the charges may not have merit.

Elisha J. Vivian is in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail on three felonies including possession of a controlled substance, trafficking heroin and trafficking methamphetamine.

Magistrate Timothy Van Valin on Friday refused to lower the bond amount, but agreed with public defender Peter Dan that Vivian, who was arrested more than two weeks ago, had overstayed his time in jail without a hearing.

Inmates have a right to a speedy trial within 14 days of their first appearance and 21 days if they post bail.

Vivian might have been in jail for a day longer than the law allows, Dan said, but because the charges were reposted he will remain behind bars until at least a preliminary hearing later this month.

Dan asked for a lower bail amount because, he said, the charges against his client may not stick.

“Based on certain facts in the probable cause statement, it’s questionable that he had possession of the property that was the subject of the search warrant,” Dan said.

Trafficking meth carries a two-year minimum and the mandatory minimum prison term for trafficking heroin is three years.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office detectives said they twice bought meth and heroin from Vivian at a rental house on North Elton Lane in Coeur d’Alene.

Detectives were tipped off by neighbors that Vivian was selling drugs. Neighbors said visitors came and went on a daily basis, and at all hours, stopping briefly at the trailer house that sits on 20 acres in the French Gulch area northwest of Interstate 90.

Neighbors said Vivian would meet them outside carrying sandwich bags. He would sit inside the vehicles and then walk back to the trailer house without the bags when the motorists left, according to a detective’s report.

Confidential informants working for the sheriff’s office bought about four grams of heroin last month from Vivian in two seperate buys, detectives said. The informants told authorities Vivian had shown them an ounce of methamphetamine and more than an ounce of heroin.

Detectives and deputies found 42 grams of meth when they served a warrant at the property. More than five grams of heroin was found at the site, along with 24 Fentanyl patches, scales and baggies, according to a report.

Another person at the residence was also arrested, but she has not been charged.