41 year-old Izaiah Matthew Shields and 37 year-old Moriah Goulette, were recently arrested and charged with fentanyl possession offenses.
According to police reports, on December 29, VICE officers contacted Shields and Goulette at the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport after they disembarked a flight from California. Officers later recovered over 60 grams of fentanyl powder from Shield’s person and over 4 grams of fentanyl powder from inside an aluminum water bottle that was within Goulette’s possession.
Yesterday afternoon, Shields appeared in Kona District Court where his bail was maintained at $75,000.00.
Goulette made her initial appearance in Kona District Court on Tuesday following a preliminary hearing yesterday where the District Court found probable cause, maintained bail at $10,000.00, and ordered Goulette to appear for arraignment in Kona Circuit Court on January 12, 2024. Shields’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 4, 2024.
As the Complaints allege, Shields was charged with Promoting a Dangerous Drug in the First Degree (possess one and one-half ounce or more of fentanyl) and Attempted Promoting a Dangerous Drug in the Second Degree (attempt to distribute a dangerous drug, fentanyl, in any amount). Goulette was charged with a single count of Promoting a Dangerous Drug in the Third Degree (possess any dangerous drug, fentanyl). Promoting a Dangerous Drug in the First Degree is a class A felony offense punishable by either a twenty-year prison term or ten years probation and up to two years in jail. Promoting a Dangerous Drug in the Third Degree is a class C felony offense punishable by either a five-year prison term or four years probation and up to twelve months in jail.
The charges are merely allegations and the Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The felony drug investigation was led by Officer Bradley Llanes of HPD’s Area II VICE Section while the case is being prosecuted by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kaua Jackson
Photo credit: Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney