Pair arrested for pot trafficking

SANDPOINT — As much as 30 pounds of marijuana were recovered Wednesday during search of a Rapid Lightning Road home, according to court documents.

Marcum Shelton Starks and Laura Dell Baker were arrested following the Bonner County Sheriff’s Criminal Interdiction Team search. They are each charged with marijuana trafficking.

Starks, 42, and Baker, 51, made initial court appearances on Thursday. Judge Debra Heise sustained both suspects’ $100,000 bail amounts and appointed public defenders to represent them.

Preliminary hearings in the case are pending.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Marty Ryan said in a news release that the CIT had connected the suspects to an outdoor marijuana crop being cultivated in an area off Colburn Culver Road and the Pack River Bridge, near Northside Elementary School.

When deputies executed the search warrant on Wednesday, sheriff’s officials said Starks and Baker were in the process of trimming and packaging the marijuana. Two boxes of marijuana buds were found in the home, in addition to a box of trimmings, according to probable cause hearing testimony.

Seven live pot plants were also discovered growing inside the home, sheriff’s officials said.

Baker reportedly told deputies she did not reside at the Rapid Lightning home, although court documents indicate that mail and other items were found which connected her to the residence.

If convicted as charged, Starks and Baker face no less than five years in prison and no more than 15. They could also be fined between $15,000 and $50,000.

Neither Starks nor Baker have criminal records in Idaho, although a deputy testified on Wednesday that Baker has prior offenses in Missouri and Nevada.