Pot, pistol are found in search

Warrant served at Riese’s residence

A search of former District Attorney Mike Riese’s home last week produced a small amount of marijuana and a pistol issued to him by the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, a court document states.

The sheriff’s Felony Investigations Unit searched the Crescent City residence Dec. 21. In its search warrant request, it said it was looking for a prescription pad and other evidence after Riese was cited for second-degree forgery, controlled substances fraud and tampering with drug records by a Brookings Police officer Dec. 12.

That came after a Brookings pharmacy employee called authorities about a suspected forged prescription.

During the search, the FIU and a Brookings Police detective did not find any evidence  to support a fraudulent prescription, but did collect marijuana and packaging that weighed 9.9 grams, a marijuana pipe and a .45 caliber pistol issued by the Sheriff’s Office to Riese when he was DA, a court document states.

Marijuana-related charges will not be pursued due to the small amount found, Sheriff Dean Wilson said.

The pistol was issued to Riese after he made a request to carry it, and Wilson said he forgot to ask Riese to return the pistol after he left office.

“From what we can indicate, there was no intention to steal the firearm,” said Wilson.

Deputy state Attorney General Brian Newman said he had not made a decision on whether anything found in the search will result in charges against Riese.

“I’m waiting to see the final investigation report, and I won’t be able to make any evaluation of anything until I see that,” said Newman.

Riese said he would have returned the gun — he described it as a World War II pistol he kept in his collection — if Wilson had asked for it.

As for the marijuana and paraphernalia, Riese said it belonged to his deceased father, who was using it to ease his chemotherapy treatment.

He said he didn’t get rid of it after his  father’s death because “I never once gave it any thought.”

“It’s not something I’ve ever done or used,” said Riese. “I’ve never done an illegal drug in my life.”

Riese questioned the appropriateness of searching his house for a possible prescription pad.

“There’s a mistake on one single prescription and from that they got a search warrant,” said Riese. “They’ve gone overkill to investigate me. It would apply to nobody else.”

In addition to the Brookings incident, authorities have had  several other contacts with Riese over the last few months suggesting there might have been evidence found at his home to support charges from the Brookings arrest, Wilson said.

Those contacts were referenced in an affidavit requesting the search warrant, which Riese stated are weak considering he passed field sobriety tests given to him during them.

“They made contact with me, clear me ... and use that for probable cause,” said Riese. “It’s a witch hunt.”

The affidavit for the search warrant, which is used to persuade a judge to permit a search of a home, included information  surrounding the Dec. 12 Brookings incident.

An employee at the Chetco Pharmacy became suspicious of Riese because he was a new customer, wanted to pay cash and the signature of his doctor, Dr. Donald Micheletti, appeared forged, the affidavit stated.

She contacted Micheletti’s Crescent City office, faxed a copy of the prescription and then was informed by someone at his office that it wasn’t his signature, nor did he authorize  the prescription for fentanyl, a sedative, the affidavit stated.

A Brookings detective also spoke with Micheletti  about the prescription Riese attempted to use, the affidavit stated.

Micheletti told the detective that he did not sign the prescription and that the pad it came from had not been in use for several years, the affidavit stated.

Micheletti also said he is a personal friend of Riese and was unaware how he obtained the prescription, the affidavit stated.

Riese said the prescription was about a year old and was legitimately signed.

Reach Anthony Skeens at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it