Pocatello man charged with trafficking after police find meth, cocaine and fentanyl
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POCATELLO — A man police allegedly found possessing large quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine faces life in prison.
Hank David Langley, 41, has been charged with trafficking meth, two counts of possession with intent to deliver and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, court documents show. In an unrelated case, he is also charged with possessing a forged bank note.
May 6, 2022
Pocatello police received a call reporting the use of a counterfeit $100 bill at a gas station on East Center Street.
Responding officers spoke with an employee at the gas station who said that a heavyset white man with horns and sideburns tattooed onto his face had used the bill. The employee gave officers the bill and photos of the man.
After filing an attempt to identify, officers learned that a man matching the description provided, identified as Langley, had active arrest warrants in Cassia and Shoshone counties — for drug possession and failure to report an accident, respectively.
January 30
During a drug investigation, Pocatello police were informed Langley had just returned to the Pocatello area with a shipment of drugs, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Detectives surveilled Langley and two others from a motel on Bench Road. They observed the trio driving a 2008 Volkswagen Jetta, and detectives requested a nearby Bannock County Sheriff’s deputy to conduct a traffic stop.
Once the vehicle was stopped, all three passengers were removed from the car, and a narcotics K-9 was brought to the scene for an exterior sniff of the Jetta.
The detectives also conducted a physical search of the vehicle — due to there being an active warrant for Langley’s arrest.
While searching the vehicle, officers found a backpack under the passenger seat where Langley had been sitting. Inside the bag were 671.7 grams of suspected meth, 19 grams of suspected cocaine, 101.3 grams of suspected dirty 30 fentanyl pills and a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.
All suspected drugs were tested and returned presumptive positives.
Langley was taken to the Pocatello Police Department for questioning. After waiving his Miranda Rights, he admitted to being a convicted felon, the affidavit says. He also told officers that the drugs and weapon belonged to him.
He was taken to Bannock County Jail, where he was booked and is being held on bonds of $250,000 and $20,000.
Though Langley has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
If he is found guilty, Langley could face three life sentences.
He is scheduled to appear in court before Magistrate Judge Scott Axline for a preliminary hearing on April 18.