Plea deal pending in Law case

SANDPOINT — A plea agreement is pending in the case of a Kelso Lake man accused of unlawfully possessing the debit card of a woman who has been missing for nearly a year.

Jordan Jerrad Law is scheduled to change his plea of not guilty and be sentenced on Tuesday in 1st District Court. He is free on a $30,000 surety bond while the case is pending.

Law is entering an Alford plea to the charge, which means he admits no wrongdoing but concedes he could be convicted if the matter went to trial. The state has agreed to recommend a suspended sentence and a year of probation. He will also be ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, according to the terms of the plea agreement.

Law is accused of possessing a bank card belonging to Rae Allison Berwanger, who is listed as a missing person with Idaho State Police. She was last seen in March 2019.

Law is not charged in connection with the 54-year-old woman’s disappearance.

Bonner County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dan Rodriguez said there is no new information about Berwanger’s disappearance.

Berwanger moved into Law’s home last year, after being asked to leave a different Kelso Lake Road home due to disagreements with one of the homeowners, court records indicate.

Law told investigators that he hadn’t seen Berwanger since selling her his Pontiac Grand Am for $800 and suspected she used the vehicle to go to Florida to visit her son or to Alaska to meet up with somebody she met online, a probable cause affidavit said. He claimed he hadn’t seen the vehicle since March 7, 2019, when he claimed to have found it high-centered on a snowbank at Clagstone and Diagonal roads.

However, bank surveillance cameras captured images of Law using the bank card to make a three $400 withdrawals in Coeur d’Alene and Spirit Lake on March 4-6, which contradicted his claim. Law, the affidavit said, could not explain why he fabricated the story about happening upon the vehicle.

Those with information about Berwanger’s whereabouts are asked to call the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office at 208-263-8417,

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