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With information provided by the Office of the County Attorney for Washakie County.

WORLAND – A Utah man accused of conspiring to have over 500 grams of Alpha-PVP, or “flakka,” delivered to a Worland residence with the intent to distribute was extradited from custody in Utah to Worland earlier this month.

Dustin Ray Teeples, 42 of Orem, Utah, was serving a prison sentence for an unrelated crime in Utah and was transferred to the Washakie County Law Enforcement Center on Oct. 3. Teeples had his initial appearance in front of Fifth Judicial District Judge Thomas W. Harrington on Oct. 5. He is being held on a $100,000 cash bond and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, US Border and Custom Agents intercepted two packages from Hong Kong that were destined to a Worland address that contained the designer drug. Law enforcement agents conducted a controlled delivery of the packages and as a result, arrested Worland residents Deven Leyva, 23, and James Engel, 18.

The affidavit states that Leyva and Engel were to receive the packages for Teeples and another Utah man, Kevin Crowley, 43, in exchange for heroin and $200. Charges are still pending with Crowley.

Alpha-PVP is a synthetic drug similar in chemical makeup to bath salts that can cause hyperstimulation, paranoia, and hallucinations. The US Drug Enforcement Administration listed Alpha-PVP as a schedule 1 drug in 2016.

Earlier, Leyva pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance. She is currently serving three years of supervised probation.

According to the Office of the County Attorney, Kevin Kirt Crowley, 43, along with Sarasota Springs, Utah, resident Dustin Ray Teeples (previously charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in May 2016), allegedly attempted to receive a foreign delivery of alpha-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone (commonly known as “bath salts” or “flakka”) from Worland resident Deven Leyva between October 1 and December 8, 2016.

As indicated by an affidavit filed with the Fifth District Circuit Court, on November 30, 2016, the Washakie county Sheriff’s Office was contacted by agents from the Department of Homeland Security regarding two packages, containing a total of one pound of “flakka”, intended to be delivered to an address in Worland, belonging to Deven Leyva. The packages had instead been intercepted by agents for U.S. Customs.

Discovered later during the investigation, Crowley accompanied Leyva to the Worland Post Office when the packages went undelivered, and left his cell phone number with postal employees, to contact him if the packages arrived.

On December 8, 2016, after obtaining a search warrant, the Washakie County Sheriff’s Office, Worland Police Department, Division of Criminal Investigation, Department of Homeland Security and the U.S Postal Inspector conducted a controlled delivery of one of the packages to the Leyva residence.

After the transfer of the package and executing the search warrant, Leyva and one James Engel were arrested, and the resulting investigation identified Crowley and Teeples as the original buyers of the “flakka”. It was then discovered that Leyva and Engels were allegedly supposed to have received heroin and $200 to collect the packages for the Utah buyers.

Engel received a deferral as part of a plea agreement. He will serve five years of supervised probation. If he successfully completes his probation, his guilty plea will not be entered.

“In the case of Leyva and Engel, I think we are dealing with two young people with a serious addiction problem,” said Washakie County Attorney John Worrall. “It is very easy to be manipulated if you have an addiction to be fed. In many of those cases, treatment and supervised probation are appropriate.

“However,” Worrall continued, “Taking advantage of young addicts to move 500 grams of a seriously dangerous substance requires a different approach.”

A preliminary hearing for Teeples is scheduled for Nov. 13 at 4 p.m.