Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — A Wednesday night traffic stop west of Hayden yielded more than $15,500 in cash, a small amount of marijuana and a wanted pot distributor.

About $11,100 in suspected drug money and 12 grams of marijuana were found in a 1986 Chevy Celebrity driven by 32-year-old Jason Roger Thompson of Carlton, Wash.

Thompson is wanted in El Dorado County, Calif., for failing to appear in court on charges of transporting and selling marijuana.

He was arrested on suspicion of the sale and distribution of marijuana, marijuana possession, drug paraphernalia possession, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and speeding.

Sgt. John Lupton of the Colorado State Patrol stopped Thompson for driving 75 mph in a 65 mph zone at mile marker 103 on U.S. Highway 40 at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Lupton discovered about $4,400 when he searched Thompson's pockets, Trooper Brad Keadle said.

Thompson's passenger, Tera Nicole Nansen, 22, gave Lupton a small amount of marijuana and a glass pipe that she had in her purse. She was not arrested.

Lupton found a small amount of marijuana when he searched the vehicle. The vehicle was then impounded and a search warrant was issued, allowing officers to examine it more thoroughly.

A Colorado State Patrol drug recognition dog from Grand Junction was used to search the vehicle a second time. The dog found small plastic baggies filled with marijuana, as well as a small fanny pack that held envelopes and baggies containing $11,101, inside the vehicle.

The Colorado State Patrol Investigative Service and the Grand, Routt and Moffat Narcotics Enforcement Team were called in to assist the investigation.

Keadle did not know where Thompson might have sold the drugs and netted the $15,000 in profits.

Ski tags on Thompson's clothing indicate he had been skiing in other Colorado ski towns and might have distributed some of the marijuana there, Keadle said.

It was unfortunate police could not confiscate the drugs before Thompson sold them, he said, but $15,000 is a substantial amount of drug money.

"We would have liked to have made the arrest earlier," Keadle said.

Thompson is being held in the Routt County Jail on $15,000 bond -- a $10,000 bond from California and a $5,000 bond for the charges he faces in Routt County.