Accused Charlotte man had 2 days to hide his drugs before police bust, FBI records show
On Thursday morning, the FBI arrested Kongmany Sibounheuang on a cocaine conspiracy charge.
In retrospect, the Charlotte man might have left himself liable for another accusation: felony failure to take a hint.
According to new documents that surfaced in federal court this week, authorities first suspected the 35-year-old was dealing drugs in March 2018 when police and paramedics answered an emergency overdose call at his apartment on Scaleybark Road.
Thanks to the CPR efforts of MEDIC and the fire department, along with the subsequent hospital treatment she received, the unidentified female overdose victim survived.
But according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Nadeau, suspicious white powder and possible drug paraphernalia were strewn about the apartment in plain sight. There was also a strong odor of marijuana.
Before they left, the affidavit alleges, police asked Sibounheuang if they could search his place for drugs. He refused. Officers then asked him if he was carrying any firearms. Sibounheuang said he wasn’t. Police then left.
Predictably, they came back.
This time, they brought a search warrant. But almost 48 hours had elapsed since their initial visit, giving Sibounheuang plenty of time to ... tidy up.
Instead, when police re-entered the apartment, they found Sibounheuang hiding behind his couch — on top of more than 4 grams of crack cocaine, the FBI affidavit says.
According to the affidavit, police found more than 100 grams of crack beneath the couch.
Moving on to the living room, they came upon a set of scales on a table with a bag of cocaine beside it.
Nearby, the affidavit claims, the searchers discovered another bag carrying 66 pills, which Nadeau says turned out to be methamphetamine.
There was marijuana near the TV, the affidavit says, and 117 blue tablets later revealed to be fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine.
The search also came across the key to a Jeep, which was parked outside the apartment. A police drug dog gave the vehicle a good sniff. More marijuana, almost 2 kilograms this time, was found in the trunk, the affidavit says.
Back in the apartment, the search was moving from pharmaceuticals to currency. In the first bedroom on the right, according to the affidavit, police came across a safe, forced it open and found $14,700 cash inside. They checked the bed frame. Almost $20,000 was hidden there, the affidavit says.
The next day, Sibounheuang was arrested and jailed on 10 state drug charges, including trafficking in heroin and cocaine, jail records indicate.
He was arrested again that December after a traffic stop, charged with both speeding and two counts of trafficking in cocaine, records show.
Just before 11 Thursday morning, Sibounheuang made his first court appearance in the new federal case against him. According to court records, all those discoveries from two years earlier had been distilled to a single charge: Possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
For the time being, Sibounheuang will not be returning home. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler ordered him held in the Mecklenburg County Jail.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 2:47 PM.
