A preliminary hearing on drug charges will be Friday for three people who were under surveillance in a Colorado case.
The three were arrested Dec. 8 as a result of a Moab police surveillance requested by the Mesa County Sheriff's Department.James Irving Maring, 45, also was charged with carrying a concealed dangerous weapon, a misdemeanor.
Maring, Weldon Lee Hass, 30, and Sharon Louise Wright, 28, face charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, both third-degree felonies. They also face a charge of misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia.
The surveillance was part of the Mesa County investigation into the shooting death of Maring's son, Jeffrey Allen Maring, 17, said Mesa County Sheriff's Detective Ted Hartman.
He said the three were identified as possible witnesses to the crime.
"At that time, we really didn't know what part anybody was playing, because we hadn't contacted anyone but the (victim's) mother," Hartman said. "We didn't know anyone was hiding or why they were hiding."
He said about four dozen people have been questioned, and investigators have not singled out a suspect.
The teenager's body was found Nov. 20 by a hunter at the Walker Wildlife Refuge Area four miles west of Grand Junction. Hartman said the murder is believed to have occurred two to five days earlier.
The state medical examiner ruled the cause of death was from a gunshot wound, Hartman said.
There was no personal identification on the body, but investigators were able to locate the victim's mother in southern California about eight days after finding the body and from there learned that the father was in Moab, Hartman said.
The drug charges resulted from a police search of a downtown apartment that the three apparently shared, Hartman said.
Moab police reported that they found and confiscated several pounds of marijuana valued at $41,000, some hallucinogens, assorted drug paraphernalia and firearms at the residence.
Earlier, officers seized a 1972 car registered to a Grand Junction man, which Hartman said Hass was driving.
Moab detective Doug Morck, Assistant Police Chief Scott Mallon and police officer Kent Lindquist had followed the car throughout town as part of the surveillance the evening of Dec. 7, finally stopping the car on a downtown street.
A vehicle search revealed 10 pounds of marijuana, the officers reported. Hartman said Hass was alone in the car and was taken into custody. Officers located Maring and Wright soon after and also brought them in for questioning by Mesa County investigators.