Police arrested one of Haines’ leading marijuana advocates for selling cocaine in a sting operation on Oct. 12.
Court documents say police also found in his home less than one gram of a white crystal-like substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
Dean “Bear” Lari, 54, was charged in Alaska District Court with three counts of drug possession and one count of manufacturing or delivering drugs, all felony charges.
“There’s way more to the story than what’s tossed out there,” Lari said in an interview. While Lari discussed the arrest in general terms, he declined to elaborate on details until he could speak with his attorney.
According to court records, a female informant told Lari that she had a friend wanting to buy six grams of cocaine, and Lari gave her a price of $275.
The pair drove to downtown Haines, where the woman took the substance – which field-tested positive for cocaine – into a store and exchanged it with police for $275.
The pair drove away, but were soon stopped by police, who arrested Lari after finding the $275 on him.
Then with a warrant, police searched his home and found 57 marijuana plants and other drugs.
The pot inside two grow rooms in Lari’s home consisted of 33 mature plants and 24 seedlings of one inch to four inches in height, court records said. Alaska law allows an adult to have up to six plants for personal use.
Lari said there were only three mature marijuana plants at his home.
The search also discovered residue of a white powder – which field-tested positive for cocaine – on the glass of a framed picture of the Grateful Dead, along with a straw and razor with it, court records alleged.
And the search turned up a plastic bag with less than one gram of a white crystal-like substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine, court records said.
Lari said that what police found in the bag “didn’t establish that it’s meth.” Police also didn’t find any evidence that he was selling meth, he said. “They didn’t find anything in my house.”
Lari was released on $4,000 bail.
Lari has been a marijuana activist in Haines. In 2015, he approached the borough assembly to invite it and borough officials to watch pot being smoked or to try it themselves to educate themselves about marijuana use.
Later, he said Haines’ small population could not economically support a retail marijuana shop.
In July 2012, Haines Police approached Lari about a suspected methamphetamine deal at the Fort Seward parade grounds. Lari complained in a newspaper interview that police improperly forced him to empty his pockets at that time.
Police had an audio recording of the incident, which the department played for the Chilkat Valley News in 2012. In the recording, Lari asked an officer if he looked like a meth addict, then said: “I hate tweekers. I sell ‘Tweekers Suck’ bumper stickers.”
Through the front window of Lari’s home this week, a poster saying “Tweekers Suck” could be seen on his refrigerator.
A preliminary hearing on the charges is set for Oct. 27 in local court.