A Duluth man stopped for unlit taillights Oct. 30 had nearly 250 grams of suspected methamphetamine and smaller amounts of suspected cocaine in a backpack behind his seat, according to the complaint.

Jamie Richard Bourassa, 57, is charged in Saint Louis County District Court with first-degree and third-degree drug sale, both felonies. He also faces misdemeanor counts of driving after his license was suspended, revoked or canceled and driving without a working taillight. The complaint was filed Nov. 2.

According to the complaint, a Duluth officer saw a vehicle heading east on First Street at about 12:25 a.m. with no rear taillights lit. When the officer stopped it, the driver immediately got out and shut the door. Told to get back in, he said he could not get another ticket. He said he did not have a driver’s license and gave the officer a paper ID that identified him as Bourassa. No one else was in the vehicle.

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After checking his record, the officer arrested Bourassa for driving after cancellation. A search turned up a glass bubble pipe and a small tin of yellow powder that field-tested positive for fentanyl, the complaint says.

In a backpack right behind the driver’s seat, the officer found a tied-off plastic bag holding a large amount of suspected methamphetamine in two plastic cups and in large shards. He also found empty baggies, a digital scale with white residue and several smaller bags of white powder.

Bags in the backpack held 225.28 grams, 14.78 grams and 6.89 grams of substances that field-tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the complaint. A jewelry bag weighing 2.26 grams tested positive for both fentanyl and methamphetamine. Two bags of white powder weighing 6.24 grams and 0.71 grams tested positive for cocaine. Another 25.83 grams believed to be cocaine gave an inconclusive field test.

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Jurisdictional Context

Saint Louis County is Minnesota’s largest county by area, stretching from Duluth to the Canadian border. The Saint Louis County Attorney’s Office prosecutes felonies through the Sixth Judicial District; cases are heard at courthouses in Duluth, Hibbing and Virginia.