By: News Director Larissa Donovan
BEMIDJI– The two people arrested in a Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force investigation will appear in court Monday.
According to court documents, bail has been set at $175,000 for 31-year-old Isaiah Johnson of Bemidji, and at $75,000 for 26-year-old Ileisha Guinn of Cass Lake.
Both were charged with first degree drug sales last week after a bust at a local hotel.
According to the criminal complaint, agents with the task force were investigating Guinn and Johnson as suspects in a heroin distribution and trafficking case in the Bemidji and Cass Lake areas.
They determined that Johnson flew from Los Angeles to the Twin Cities, and Guinn drove down to the cities to pick up Johnson and brought him to Bemidji on June 19.
Law enforcement agents conducted surveillance on the two and observed what appeared to be drug transactions in the parking lot of the Candlewood Suites Hotel.
Agents executed a search warrant and removed Guinn and Johnson from their room at the Country Inn and Suites, and seized approximately 84 grams of black tar heroin.
Agents also seized $800 cash, drug paraphernalia, and a money transfer receipt showing that Guinn sent $2,500 to Brock Johnson in California on June 11.
Johnson has a lengthy criminal history, including a burglary conviction in California, drug convictions in Beltrami County, and charged with domestic assault.
Guinn has prior misdemeanor convictions for driving while impaired and theft.
