Two men arrested outside of elementary school, one charged with trafficking methamphetamine

A surveillance of a residence suspected of selling drugs led to the arrest of two men on July 7, with 212 grams of methamphetamine being seized.

Ryler Kenneth Jensen, 27, of St. Anthony, was charged with one felony count of drug trafficking in methamphetamine or amphetamine and a misdemeanor of possession of drug paraphernalia. Joshua Lloyd Burnside, 47, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Jensen faces a potential sentence of six years to life in prison if found guilty, while Burnside faces up to eight years.

According to the affidavit, the surveillance was on a residence that was believed to be used by Burnside to sell drugs. A detective with the Idaho Falls Police Department saw Burnside pick up a man who had walked up to his residence before driving away.

The pair traveled to the parking lot of Hawthorne Elementary, where the detective saw them sitting inside the car. An officer arrived at the school and walked up to the vehicle.

The officer had obtained a search warrant for the residence, which also allowed for the search of Burnside. The other man was detained and identified as Jensen.

Jensen claimed that Burnside gave him a ride to a nearby e-scooter, but the detective did not see one in the area. A search of Jensen’s backpack produced 212 grams of suspected methamphetamine, baggies, scales and syringes.

A test of the suspected methamphetamine resulted in a positive match for methamphetamine.

Burnside was detained, and his Miranda rights were read to him before he was taken to his residence to complete the search warrant. When the residence was searched, a box was found that contained drug paraphernalia and two grams of methamphetamine.

Burnside admitted he had been using drugs but became clean a week prior to his arrest. He had tried to gather all of the paraphernalia together, and that’s why it was all together.

Burnside has waived his preliminary hearing for time, which was filed on July 19, and no other court dates are scheduled for him. Jensen was also scheduled for a preliminary hearing on July 19, but no other date has been listed.