CHARGES DROPPED IN HISTORIC POT BUST

One of the largest drug busts in Moffat County's history may not have
been legal.

Three Wisconsin men who sheriff's deputies last month said were
traveling with 30 pounds of marijuana won't be charged with a crime,
District Attorney Bonnie Roesink said Wednesday.

The men were arrested in early November after a traffic stop on U.S.
Highway 40, west of Craig.

Moffat County Sheriff's Deputies used a dog to search the vehicle and
say they found 30 pounds of marijuana in eight vacuum-sealed bags.

But the canine search may not have been legal, Chief Deputy District
Attorney Amy Fitch said.

In an interview shortly after the arrest, Deputy Courtland Folks said
he used his dog, Czar, to search the outside of the vehicle because
the driver, [Name redacted], 27, of Waunakee, Wis., gave deceptive
answers to questions about where he was headed.

The dog reacted to something inside the vehicle, so deputies searched
the interior, Folks said. Deputies reported finding marijuana inside
and arrested Skaife and the two passengers, [Name redacted], 21, of
Edgerton, Wis., and [Name redacted], 22, of Madison, Wis.

After reviewing case law and speaking with the Colorado attorney
general, U.S. attorney and the Drug Enforcement Agency, officials at
the District Attorney's Office don't think the search met the state's
requirements, Fitch said.

Although it's difficult to discern what constitutes a valid reason to
conduct a canine search, Fitch said nervousness by the driver isn't one.

If a judge deemed the search illegal, the marijuana could be
suppressed as evidence, Fitch said.

Without the marijuana as evidence, the district attorney could not
build a case against the men, Fitch said.

The district attorney had until Friday to file charges against the three men.

If convicted of possession of 30 pounds of marijuana with intent to
distribute, all three men faced felonies and prison time.

Fitch and Roesink commended the deputies for their work and said they
were disappointed by the case's outcome.

[Name redacted] and [Name redacted] were released on bond shortly
after their arrest last month and allowed to return to Wisconsin.

[Name redacted] was extradited back to Wisconsin on a probation violation.

It isn't clear whether [Name redacted] will face a probation
violation charge now that the district attorney dropped charges, Fitch said.

The marijuana deputies seized will be destroyed, Fitch said.