La Crosse Police arrest man on suspicion of drug trafficking

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) - La Crosse Police said Wednesday they have arrested a man as part of a drug investigation.

In a release, the La Crosse Police Department said they arrested 26-year-old Jade Justice Deeny on Monday as a suspect in the investigation.

Police said Deeny was taken into custody on the 600 block of Powell Street. A search of Deeny’s home and vehicle turned up a lease for a storage unit in La Crosse, which investigators said was being used as a pill press laboratory. Police found a number of drugs, firearms and materials to make and transport drugs.

According to the release, Police said the 10′ by 10′ storage unit contained a pill press to make Xanax and thousands of U.S. Postal Service boxes. Police also found non-active ingredients needed to make pills. In searching the three locations, officers found 135.13 pounds of pressed counterfeit Xanax in three different colors, a pound of fentanyl near the Xanax press, a pound of counterfeit Adderall that tested positive for meth, 25.3 grams of meth in pill form, 77 narcotic pills, 250.7 grams of cocaine, 524 grams of THC wax, four pounds of THC candies, 212 grams of psilocybin-infused chocolate, four handguns with two high-capacity magazines and one drum magazine, a rifle and 603 rounds of ammunition and $5,953 in cash.

Deeny is being recommended for two charges of maintaining a drug trafficking place, five charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to deliver six different types of drugs, including fentanyl, THC, cocaine, meth, psilocybin and a Schedule IV drug, delivery of cocaine and a Schedule IV drug, and possession of drug paraphernalia, narcotic drugs and an electric weapon.

Police said Deeny is a convicted felon who was previously imprisoned in North Carolina on drug- and gun-related charges. WECT in Wilmington, NC reported in 2017 that Deeny was sentenced to up to five and a half years in prison for two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, manufacturing marijuana, possession with intent to deliver marijuana and a probation violation after being found at a hotel in Wilmington with the drugs and guns. Deeny was also involved in a 2016 incident in Wilmington in which three guns, marijuana and packaging materials were found in his residence. Deeny was arrested in Wisconsin and extradited to North Carolina.

Copyright 2022 WEAU. All rights reserved.