A Hailey man has been charged with felony delivery of a controlled substance after ready-for-sale marijuana packets were allegedly found in his possession following a traffic stop last week in south Hailey.
Twenty-three-year-old Christopher B. Stuart was charged with the crime Thursday in Blaine County Magistrate Court. He had been arrested shortly after midnight that day near the intersection of state Highway 75 and Countryside Boulevard.
According to court records, a man who was with Stuart at the time of the arrest was not charged with any crimes.
The Blaine County Sheriff's Office reported that Stuart and the other man were pulled over in a traffic stop by Deputy Corey Weatherly because the rear license plate of the vehicle they were in was obscured by a bicycle rack. Weatherly allegedly smelled marijuana in the vehicle and called in Hailey police Sgt. Derek Stewart and Shadow, the Hailey Police Department's newly certified black Labrador drug-sniffing dog.
Sheriff's Lt. Jay Davis said Shadow and Stewart searched the vehicle and found a "large ziplock baggie with several individual ziplock baggies inside set up for individual sales."
Davis said the alleged marijuana weighed in at 38.8 grams, which is the equivalent of about 1.4 ounces.
Following arraignment, Stuart was released from the Blaine County jail after posting $2,000 bond. The Roark Law Firm of Hailey was appointed to represent Stuart under its public defender contract with Blaine County. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for 11 a.m. on Dec. 23.
Christopher B. Stuart
