Man jailed for receiving heroin through mail

SANDPOINT — A Ponderay man was arrested Monday for allegedly receiving heroin through the U.S. mail.

Bryson Gerald White is charged with felony drug possession and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. He made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Monday via videoconferencing with the jail. A public defender was appointed to represent him and bail was set at $5,000, court records show.

White, 19, fell under suspicion following a tip from a U.S. Postal Service inspector in Spokane, court records indicate. The priority mail parcel was addressed to White, but carried an incorrect return address in San Fransisco, according to a probable cause affidavit. The suspect parcel ended up at the Cocolalla post office, where it was placed in a lineup with other priority mail pieces.

A deputy’s K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics and White was notified that his package was ready to be picked up at the post office, according to court documents.

White picked up the package and was followed by a deputy back to Sandpoint, where a traffic stop was made, court records indicate. White initially told the deputy the parcel on the front seat of his vehicle contained fluid for a vaporizer, a probable cause affidavit said.

After being advised the car he was driving would be impounded while a search warrant was obtained, White consented to the search of the package, which held an unspecified amount of a substance that field-tested positive for heroin, court records indicate.

A preliminary hearing in the case is set for July 11.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.