DUBOIS – A bench warrant has been issued for a DuBois woman who failed to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Friday.
In July, Emily Diana Hepler, 35, was charged by DuBois City police with felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, two misdemeanor counts of intentional possession of a controlled substance and one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were in the area of Hepler’s residence on May 6, when they noticed several people outside. Because she had three active warrants, the officers went to the front door and knocked.
When she answered the door, she was informed of the warrants and that a magistrate wanted her to be incarcerated.
She asked if she could lock up her home before being transported to the jail. The officers agreed but said they had to accompany her since she was in their custody.
Once inside the house, they noticed drug paraphernalia in the kitchen. She then went upstairs where she attempted to quickly close a bedroom door but reportedly not before the officer spotted several stamp bags on the bed.
She was taken into physical custody and read her rights after which the officers asked if they could search her home since they had observed both drugs and drug paraphernalia.
She avoided answering questions and asked who she had angered for them to be doing this. The officer responded that he was simply doing his job.
After she was transported to the jail, one officer stayed at the scene and was joined by two other officers to secure the residence.
A search warrant was obtained and the residence, found to be empty was searched.
They reportedly located several items of drug paraphernalia, empty stamp bags, digital scales, several baggies of various sizes containing white powder and drug packaging materials.
Lab reports confirmed the presence of both Fentanyl and methamphetamine in the substances, as well as a white powder that tested negative for controlled substance.
The officer notes in the criminal complaint that is standard practice for drug dealers to use other white powders to mix with controlled substances to maximize their profits.
He also stated that he had been watching that residence since 2022 because of the amount of short-stay traffic at that location.
In April, a concerned citizen also reported concerns regarding people stopping at the residence at all hours and staying for a short time, according to the report.
A preliminary hearing was held without Hepler during centralized court, with District Judge David S. Meholick ruling that all charges be sent on to the county court for further disposition and issuing the warrant, according to online court documents.
