Montana grand jury indicts local man

PONDERAY — Further investigation by the sheriff’s Criminal Interdiction Team led to the arrest of a Bonner County man on a federal grand jury indictment on Wednesday.

Detectives from the CIT arrested Steven Jay Beal on a felony warrant alleging conspiracy involving the trafficking of stolen property. He was arrested without incident at Fantastic Sam’s, his place of employment, according to sheriff’s officials.

Beal, 33, was indicted by a grand jury in Missoula, Mont., earlier this month. The indictment remains filed under seal pending an initial appearance in U.S. District Court.

Beal’s indictment comes about four months after he was charged with three felony drug possession counts in Idaho’s 1st District Court. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and a three-day jury trial is planned for May 9, according to court records.

Beal’s Coeur d’Alene defense counsel, Dan Sheckler, has filed numerous motions to force the state to release certain discovery materials, including the felony records of state’s witnesses.

Hearings on the motions are set for later this month in Kootenai County.

Prior to the drug arrest, a Bonner County grand jury indicted Beal on charges of altering or defacing manufacturers’ identification numbers on motor vehicle parts, grand theft by possession or disposal of stolen property, and recruitment of criminal gang members.

The latter charge involves allegations that Beal tried to thicken the ranks of the Hermanos Motorcycle Club. Authorities contend Beal is a road captain for the local chapter of Hermanos, an organization which supports the notorious Bandidos Motorcycle Club.

The indictments were the product of “Operation New Hight,” a multi-pronged investigation into criminal gang recruitment, stolen vehicle parts trafficking and drugs in Bonner County. The operation is named after a law officer who was instrumental in the takedowns, court records indicate.

More than a dozen people were ensnared in Operation New Hight, although not all of the suspects had ties to motorcycle clubs. The scope of the operation raised some questions in the community about whether it was a wise use of law-enforcement resources.

“At no point were we ever chasing minor violators,” sheriff’s Sgt. Marty Ryan said, adding that Beal’s latest arrest underscores that contention.