Grand jury probe gets under way

SANDPOINT — A grand jury investigation is under way in Bonner County.

Prosecutor Louis Marshall said state law prohibits him from discussing grand jury investigations.

District Judge Steve Verby signed an order impaneling the jury on March 31. The order cleared the way for the summonsing of 32 Bonner County jurors.

Jurors are selected after being questioned about their backgrounds and potential biases. The panel is composed of 16 jurors, 12 of whom constitute the body’s quorum.

Grand juries meet peridocally behind closed doors to contemplate criminal charges. Jurors can hear a case for up to six months and decide whether to issue an indictment. Extensions can be obtained after the first six months elapses.

“I would be shocked if it took that long,” said Marshall.

The last grand jury investigation in Bonner County occurred in 2003, when the operators of a used car lot in Ponderay were indicted for racketeering, grand theft and withholding vehicles’ certificate of title.

A Bonner County jury convicted Arnold Albert Dreier Sr. in 2005. Dreier’s son, Cody, pleaded guilty through an agreement with the state to single counts of grand theft and failing to deliver title.

 The duo was accused of accepting customers payments for extended warranties which turned out to be nonexistent and preventing customers from obtaining vehicle titles because U.S. 95 Auto Sales was deeply in debt with the financing companies it used to obtain inventory.