Hearing pending in cocaine case

SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday in the case of a Ponderay man caught with 15 grams of cocaine during a routine traffic stop.

Michael Ross Hammack is charged with possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and possession of meth. He also faces a misdemeanor pot possession charge.

Hammack, 41, was contacted by Sandpoint Police for expired registration at First Avenue and Church Street on May 20. An officer smelled the odor of marijuana coming from his vehicle and Hammack turned over a small amount of the drug and a pipe.

Hammack denied having anything else in his Ford F-250 pickup truck, although a scale, cocaine and an undisclosed amount of meth were discovered in the rig, a police report said. Hammack also had more than $400 in cash in the vehicle.

More recent routine traffic stops in Priest River have also turned up significant amounts of drugs.

Elizabeth Renae Heitmann was pulled over by Priest River Police for erratic driving on Highway 57 on June 21. A drug-detection dog indicated the presence of drugs in her vehicle, the police report said.

A search of vehicle turned up five grams of meth and a makeshift ledger, according to court documents.

Heitmann, a 41-year-old from Priest Lake, is charged with possession of meth with intent to deliver. Her preliminary hearing is set for July 15.

Park Mark Hamilton, also of Priest Lake, was a passenger in a Dodge Durango pulled over by Idaho State Police for reckless driving on Highway 57. Hamilton was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant and a K-9 detected the presence of drugs in the vehicle.

None were found, although Hamilton, 37, ultimately admitted to hiding a baggie of meth in his rectum. He later passed the baggie and it was seized as evidence, an ISP report said.

Hamilton was charged with possession of meth with intent, but pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a reduced charge of simple possession. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 17 in 1st District Court.