Drug case dismissed without prejudice

BONNERS FERRY — A drug case with the largest amount of fentanyl recovered in Boundary County was dismissed without prejudice on Jan. 4.

The case is dismissed without prejudice, which allows the prosecution to refile and try the case again. Prosecuting Attorney Tevis Hull made a motion to dismiss the case without prejudice on Jan. 4 due to further investigation needs to be completed.

On Jan. 4, District Judge Barbara Buchanan dismissed the case and all bonds posted have been exonerated.

Christopher A.L. Burdick, 37, of Spokane, Wash., was charged with multiple drug charges after police said he was found in possession of approximately 600 fentanyl pills and other substances near the Boundary County Fairgrounds in July 2022.

Charges against Burdick, had included one count of drug possession with the intent to deliver, a felony; one count of possession of a controlled substance, a felony; and a misdemeanor count of possession of paraphernalia.

On Nov. 22, 2022, Burdick’s public defender, J. Lynn Brooks made a motion to suppress incriminating statements obtained when talking to law enforcement officers at the scene. Brooks argued that the incriminating statements obtained were during an illegal detention as Burdick handed his identification card to BCSO Detective Caleb Watts. She added that law enforcement took too long to run Burdick’s identification through to Boundary Dispatch, which contributed to Burdick’s arrest.

In July, Prosecutor Andrakay Pluid told the Bonners Ferry Herald that this is the largest amount of fentanyl recovered from a single investigation since she became Boundary County prosecutor in January 2021.

“Fentanyl is a relatively new trend, thus, I believe it is the largest amount we have recovered from a single investigation in Boundary County to date,” she wrote in an email.