South Lake Tahoe pair arrested on felony drug trafficking charges

Two from South Lake Tahoe were arrested Thursday on felony drug trafficking and other charges after a traffic stop led to the discovery of methamphetamine and heroin, a Carson City sheriff’s deputy said.

Elizabeth Gosh, 30, and Kyle Leake, 48, were taken into custody at 7:04 p.m. and booked into Carson City Jail. According to the arrest report, deputies with the Carson City Sheriff’s Office Special Enforcement Team were patrolling in an unmarked car and observed a white two door sedan with California plates run through a solid red strop light at the intersection of Roop and Long streets.

The deputy followed the vehicle and observed it fail to come to complete stop behind a solid whet line at Stewart and Long streets. Deputies conducted a traffic stop on the sedan and spoke with driver, Gosh, and passenger Leake. The woman told the officer she did not have a driver’s license only a California identification card. She was unable to provide proof of insurance. She told the officer she just bought the vehicle a week prior but had not registered it under her name. She handed the officer the vehicle’s title and a notice of transfer and release of liability card and a hand written contract between her and the registered owner of the vehicle.

Upon further inspection of the documents Gosh provided, the title and information such as vin number and license plate numbers were left off the document of the lien holder transfer, as required through DMV within 10 days of transfer of ownership.

After reviewing the documents, the woman not having vehicle insurance and a driver’s license, a decision was made to tow the vehicle. A K9 dog and deputy arrived on scene as the deputy completed a citation process. The officer had the couple step outside and explained the citation and informed the woman the car was going to be towed.

The woman signed and accepted the citation and the officer returned the documents. Prior to inventory the woman asked for her purse. She allowed the officer to search it. Inside the purse the officer found a black and green pouch that contained tinfoil with black burnt residue, brown cotton swabs, several small white plastic wrappers with brown residue, and a small plastic container with a tar substance that later tested positive for heroin.

The woman was read her Miranda Rights and said she did not want to talk to the officer. The deputy assisted the couple into the patrol vehicle. Officers then observed a plastic baggie was shoved between the gearshift and center console. The deputy removed the baggie and noticed it contained white crystallized substance, which tested positive for methamphetamine. Leake stated “I plea the fifth. I don’t want to talk.” The suspected methamphetamine weighed 8.5 grams and the heroin, .2 grams.

Gosh faces felony trafficking and two counts of possession of a controlled substance, and four misdemeanor charges, including possession of paraphernalia, disobeying traffic control devices and stops, driving without a valid license and no proof of insurance and fictitious registration. Bail: $27,231. Leake faces felony charges of drug trafficking and possession, and misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia. Bail: $23,637.

All information for the crime log (unless otherwise noted) comes from the arrest reports supplied by the Carson City Sheriff's Office, and is considered by law to be public information. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.