SPRINGVILLE, Utah, July 19, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A Springville man arrested Monday on felony drug charges didn’t do himself any favors when he called his girlfriend from jail and asked her to raise bail money by selling his gun.
… The gun he was legally banned from possessing.
By Tuesday, suspect Jim Christian Brannan was facing another felony charge of possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
Brannan, 45, was driving on a Springville roadway when he was recognized by a Springville Police officer.
“Having had multiple prior police dealings with Brannan, (I) know he was a known distributor of illicit drugs, primarily methamphetamine and heroin,” Brannan’s arrest documents say. “I was also aware that Brannan had prior DUI charges in which I was suspicious that his driver’s status was likely compromised.”
A records check showed Brannan’s driver license was revoked, so the officer did a traffic stop, Brannan’s Monday affidavit says.
“Brannan insisted that he did not know his driver’s license was revoked. Jim was noticeably shaking, he was sweating, his skin looked pale and he exhibited bruxism (the involuntary grinding of the jaw). These symptoms were consistent with illicit drug use.”
The officer asked Brannan and his passenger if there were illicit substances in the vehicle, “to which they stated there was not. I told them to stay seated in the vehicle and I began walking back to my vehicle to perform further records checks.
“As I did this, Brannan retrieved a backpack from the unoccupied back seat and frantically began looking through the contents of the backpack.”
The officer returned to Brannan’s vehicle, and “noticed in the bag he was looking through a syringe with brown liquid residue on the inside of the syringe,” the officer said. “Prior to a probable cause search of the vehicle, I asked Brannan again if there was illicit substances in the vehicle. He admitted there was ‘dope’ hidden in a hair brush in the backpack he was looking through.”
The hairbrush contained 10.66 grams of meth and 1.97 grams of heroin, Brannan’s arrest document says. Also found were a large number of plastic bags like those typically used for illegal drug sales, and a digital scale “caked in drug residue consistent with methamphetamines and heroin.”
Not found was an ignition interlock device required as a result of a previous DUI case.
The amount of meth found was the equivalent of 100 individual hits or doses, the officer reported. Brannan was arrested and booked into the Utah County jail. A screen test of his urine showed positive for amphetamine, methamphetamines and opiates, charging documents say.
Call from inmate phone
Brannan’s second probable cause statement, filed by the same Springville PD officer, picks up shortly after incarceration.
“A short time after Brannan was booked into jail he made a telephone call from a recorded line from the Utah County Jail,” the affidavit says. “The phone call was placed to his live-in co-habitant girlfriend.
“In the phone call he tells his girlfriend that he was booked into jail for a felony. This caused him to believe that he would have a higher than expected bail amount. Now expecting a higher than anticipated bail, Brannan tells his girlfriend to ‘sell the gun or car,’ leading me to believe he was again in unlawful possession of a firearm by a restricted person.”
The officer called Brannan’s girlfriend.
“She was cooperative and explained that Brannan had a gun in their shared bedroom and that she has not handled it because guns ‘scare her.’ She retrieved the gun from the bedroom on her own free will and gave it to detectives. The firearm was a semi automatic Ruger 9mm loaded with hollow point bullets and one bullet in the chamber.”
In the two cases, Brannan faces charges of:
- Possession with intent to distribute a class C substance, a second-degree felony
- Possession of a controlled substance schedule I/II/analog, a third-degree felony
- Purchase/transfer/possession/use of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony
- Driving under the influence, 2nd offense in 10 years, a class A misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
- Driving on suspended or revoked license, a class C misdemeanor
- Ignition interlock violation, a class C misdemeanor
He was ordered held without bail.
