(Washington State) Michael Patrick Keener, 54, was convicted of Trafficking in Heroin and Trafficking in Methamphetamine. The charges stemmed from an incident on February 16, 2024, where officers responded to a local motel after receiving a 911 text for help. Upon arrival, officers observed a vehicle that appeared to have been hastily parked.
Officers also observed drug paraphernalia in plain view upon looking through one of the vehicle’s windows. Officers quickly determined which motel room was associated with the 911 text and the vehicle. After determining nobody in the motel room needed help, officers investigated and located nearly an ounce of heroin, over an ounce of methamphetamine, and over 1,000 fentanyl pills. After it was determined the drugs belonged to Keener, he was arrested. Trafficking in Heroin and Trafficking in Methamphetamine are felonies, punishable by up to life in prison with mandatory minimum sentences of at least 3 years.
Keener was also charged with possessing the 1,000 fentanyl pills. However, at the time of the February incident, the State Legislature had yet to pass the new fentanyl trafficking law. Because the two trafficking convictions would ensure more prison time than possession of the fentanyl, the fentanyl related charge was dismissed in return for Keener’s guilty pleas to two counts of trafficking.
Keener’s criminal history spans more than three decades and includes convictions for forgery, theft, burglary, taking motor vehicles without permission, harassment, assault, and no contact order violation.
At sentencing, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Monica Bushling recommended life in prison with parole eligibility after 15 years for Trafficking in Heroin and Trafficking in Methamphetamine.
District Judge Ross Pittman sentenced Keener to a 10-year prison sentence with parole eligibility after 5 years for Trafficking in Heroin and Trafficking in Methamphetamine.
Prosecuting Attorney Stanley T. Mortensen thanks Monica Bushling for prosecuting the case and the Coeur d’Alene Police Department for investigating the case and for removing a significant amount of drugs from our community.