ST. GEORGE — A local man with more than a dozen prior convictions appeared in federal court for sentencing on drug distribution and conspiracy charges following an arrest in February 2023.
On March 11, 30-year-old Charles David Olson appeared in U.S. District Court in St. George for sentencing on multiple felony charges filed on April 11, 2023.
The federal case was filed following an arrest exactly one month before when bike patrol officers responded to a report of a suspicious person near a retail store in St. George.
Officers responded and recognized one of the men as Olson, who was known to police. Olson was found pushing a cart inside the store, and when an officer attempted to arrest him on a no-bail warrant, Olson reportedly “took off running” and was tackled by officers. Following a struggle, he was taken into custody on the warrant, according to charging documents filed at the time of the arrest.
During a search prior to transport, officers recovered a Florida driver license, bank cards and other identifying cards belonging to someone else. When contacted, the victim told officers he had lost his wallet years before but did not recognize the cards, leaving investigators to suspect the cards may have been created using the victim’s information.
Officers also recovered a locked box inside of the suspect’s backpack that reportedly contained suspected heroin, methamphetamine and dozens of suspected fentanyl pills, along with scales and other paraphernalia.
The suspect was booked into jail facing multiple drug, theft, resisting and assault charges. The drug charges were enhanced to first-degree felonies based on the suspect’s prior criminal history, which included 13 previous drug convictions.
Federal prosecutors then picked up the case and Olson was indicted on April 11, 2023, facing three federal distribution charges as well as one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin.
The defendant remained in custody in Washington County while the case made its way through the courts. On March 11, Olson was sentenced to serve 41 months in federal prison on the drug charges followed by 36 months of post-prison supervision, according to sentencing documents filed in federal court earlier this month.
The judge also recommended that Olson be placed in the federal facility in Safford, Arizona, to facilitate visits with his family. He was placed in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Office pending transport and the state case filed against Olson was dismissed.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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