Defendants plead not guilty to drug charges

Toby Elvadore Zak appeared before Judge Deborah "Kim" Christopher on Tuesday for his initial appearance on a felony charge of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and misdemeanor charges of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Zak, through his attorney Ben Darrow, entered not guilty pleas to all charges. Judge Christopher set a trial date of June 5, 2023.

As alleged in the charging documents, on December 30, Deputy Devin Wegener responded to a request for a welfare check. Upon arriving on scene, Deputy Wegener located Zak smoking what smelled like marijuana in his truck outside the residence, sitting in the driver’s seat with the keys in the ignition. Zak stated that he and his girlfriend had had an argument where they had thrown things at each other. Per the court filings, Zak stated that he had loose marijuana and a meth pipe, and that he had smoked a bowl of marijuana while sitting in his truck, listening to music. Deputy Wegener administered the standardized field sobriety tests as Zak was in physical control of the vehicle, which indicated signs of impairment. After handing Zak off to the detention staff, Deputy Wegener searched his backseat, locating two broken pipes and a metal cylinder with a small amount of a white substance inside, all of which tested positive for methamphetamine.

Shawn M. Roewer, appearing for his arraignment, entered not guilty pleas to felony counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs, criminal possession with intent to distribute, criminal possession of imitation drugs with purpose to distribute, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, as well as a misdemeanor court of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia. Jury trial was set by Judge Christopher for June 5, 2023.

As stated in the charging documents, Roewer and another man, Scott Peterson, were arrested shortly after midnight on December 24. Deputy Devin Wegener was patrolling in the Trout Creek area and observed a truck idling with its lights off at the fuel pumps at the Local Store. According to the affidavit, upon approaching, Deputy Wegener observed two men passed out inside the truck with drug paraphernalia in their laps and near their feet. When the truck was searched, a large amount of paraphernalia was found, as well as about 600 fentanyl pills, 14 grams of suspected meth, distribution paraphernalia, and pre-made baggies of both drugs consistent with distribution.