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Bail kept at $200,000 for man facing felony drug charges

The Maui News

WAILUKU — A judge kept bail at $200,000 for a man facing multiple felony drug charges, after police reported finding him with a “very significant amount” of methamphetamine and other drugs.

David Stewart, 34, pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, two counts of attempted first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, three counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and fourth-degree promotion of a harmful drug.

During a hearing Friday in 2nd Circuit Court, Deputy Prosecutor Joanne Hicks asked for the bail amount to continue. She said Stewart has no verified address, is unemployed and recently returned to Maui from Idaho.

Stewart has contacts with the law in Idaho dating to 2004, including a probation violation in 2008, Hicks said. She said he was sentenced there in 2010 to two years in prison for delivery of a controlled substance, a felony offense.

When Stewart was arrested on Maui on June 14, 2019, police reported recovering 76.95 grams of methamphetamine — “a very significant amount of methamphetamine” — as well as other drugs including marijuana, two morphine pills and 100 LSD tablets, Hicks said.

“He’s a drug dealer,” she said.

She said Stewart was in custody at the Idaho State Penitentiary from Jan. 21, 2020, to October 20, 2020, before returning to Maui and being arrested Jan. 6 on a grand jury indictment returned Dec. 4 in the case.

In arguing for reduced bail, Deputy Public Defender Danielle Sears said Stewart has a residence on Maui. She said he had returned to Idaho to finish his remaining jail time.

“He does not plan to leave the island,” she said.

Second Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo kept bail at $200,000.

A Feb. 8 pretrial conference is set.

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