Couple indicted on drug charges

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County grand jury has indicted a Sagle couple on felony marijuana charges.

Christopher Ross Green is charged with four counts of delivery of a controlled substance and Lacy Sky Green is charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

They were arrested on $100,000 warrants on Thursday, two days after the grand jury handed up the indictments, court records show. Minutes from the grand jury hearing remain sealed.

The indictments allege Christopher Green, 37, sold marijuana to a confidential informant on Dec. 26, 2009 and to an undercover narcotics detective on Jan. 6, Jan. 27 and Feb. 8. The possession charges against 25-year-old Lacy Green stem from the alleged drug transactions on the latter two dates in her husband’s case, court records show.

The indictments further allege that the latter two drug transactions were conducted in the presence of minors.

A grand jury indicted five people on felony drug charges in August, but it remains unclear if the new indictments are related or if another grand jury was impaneled to consider the charges against the Greens.

A notice posted on county buildings indicates 1st District Judge Steve Verby ordered the grand jury proceedings in July.

Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank said codes of conduct prevent him from discussing the grand jury proceedings, but he did say his decision whether to use a grand jury is made on a case-by-case basis.

The use of grand juries in Bonner County had been fairly limited until recently. During the hearings, grand jurors decide whether or not there is sufficient evidence to justify trying a defendant on felony charges, a determination that is often made by magistrate court judges at a preliminary hearing.

The Greens remain jailed while awaiting arraignment in 1st District Court.