PORT ANGELES — Bail was set at $50,000 Monday for a Port Angeles man police say had heroin, methamphetamine, overdose medication, digital weight scales and an M1000 explosive device in his possession when he was arrested Sunday morning after a traffic stop.
Jesse James Johns, 31, appeared to receive a text message for a drug transaction while the 2006 Chrysler 300 he was driving was being searched before his arrest, according to the probable cause statement.
Johns will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Friday in Superior Court.
Judge Erik Rohrer set the bail on charges of possession of a controlled substance, transporting explosives without a license and two counts of manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance.
Johns questioned the bail amount during his first-appearance via video hearing.
“Don’t you think that’s a little high?” he asked during the hearing.
Johns also was jailed for investigation of driving while license suspended, failure to stop-obey an officer, unlawful use of drug paraphernalia and violation of a court order.
Evidence collected during the search of Johns and the car included a half-ounce of heroin and methamphetamine, 68 suboxone packets and seven Naloxone pills, police said.
Suboxone treats opioid addiction the same way methadone, which mimics morphine, is used to treat heroin addiction, Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Leiter said Monday.
Naloxone revives opioid-overdose victims.
“It’s fairly new,” Leiter said of opioid users carrying Naloxone with them.
“We’ve been coming across it more and more, recently.”
Johns also had cellphones with him.
The text message Johns received from a woman said, “If u want right now I can trade white towards the laptop and cash too but wont have 20 for phone thing,” according to the probable cause statement.
In arguing for $50,000 bail, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steve Johnson told Rohrer that Johns had had 23 failure-to-appear warrants in his criminal history and was likely to c0mmit a violent offense.
Johnson said Johns was convicted in 2015 of unlawful display of a weapon.
Johnson said the M1000 “is, in fact, a deadly weapon.”
The stout, 1-inch diameter, 6-inch cylyndrical device contains an ounce of explosive mixture and has caused death, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The M1000 found in Johns’ possession was turned over to a State Patrol trooper.
Johns was driving while his license was suspended and revoked and had failed to stop at a stop sign when he was arrested at 8 a.m. Sunday, according to the probable cause statement.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
