Two people from Plain have been charged with maintaining a drug trafficking place. Authorities recovered over 35 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop.
Shankar C. Kharel, 27, Plain, has been charges with possession with intent -THC over 10,000 grams and maintaining a drug trafficking place. The THC charge has a modifier of possession with intent to deliver/distribute a controlled substance on or near a school.
Dixshya Pradhan, 26, Plain, is facing one charge of maintaining a drug trafficking place.
If found guilty Kharel could face 10 years in prison followed by up to five years of extended supervision. Pradhan could face up to 1½ years in prison followed by a maximum of two years of extended supervision.
Online court records show Kharel’s cash bond was set at $40,000 by Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Michael Screnock.
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On Thursday, March 16, Kharel was in court for his preliminary hearing and a bond hearing. Kharel’s attorney Robert Hurley requested Kharel’s bond be reduced. Judge Screnock denied the request and Kharel remains in custody at the Sauk County Jail.
Pradhan’s signature bond was set at $10,000 and a condition of the bond is to have no contact with Kharel.
According to the criminal complaint:
A sheriff’s deputy initiated a traffic stop of Kharel’s vehicle on March 8 and a state trooper was called to the scene with their K-9 partner. Kharel and Pradhan were in the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop.
Authorities searched the vehicle and allegedly located a large duffel bag with multiple vacuum sealed packages containing over 35 pounds of THC, a street value of between $38,500 and $45,500.
Meantime, the Sauk County Sheriff’s office had been working with a confidential informant who told authorities they had made multiple large purchases of THC from someone known as “Trap God.”
The informant reported buying between 10 and 20 pounds of THC from Trap God, later identified through DOT records as Kharel, between March 2020 and July 2022.
The Sauk County Drug Task Force directed the informant to arrange a THC purchase of 50 pounds from Kharel last week. The complaint stated the Cherry Street home is about 744 feet from the River Valley Early Learning Center and approximately 467 feet from St. Luke’s Catholic School.
A search warrant was then executed at the two residences. At the Cherry Street home officers allegedly found leafy green materal that one officer noted as raw marijuana and a number of large unused vacuum seal bags.
There was allegedly 356 grams of THC recovered from the Cherry Street home. The complaint does not mention or provide any details of the serach warrant of the Watcher Avenue residence.
A preliminary hearing is set in Pradhan’s case for April 6. Kharel’s case is headed for arraignment on May 16.
