By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The man charged with having pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin when he was captured in Chehalis late last November pleaded not guilty today to the charges against him.
Robert John Maddaus Jr.
Robert John Maddaus Jr., 40, was in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon for his arraignment on charges of possession of each of the three drugs with intent to deliver, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm.
Maddaus, whose residence is listed in court papers as Rochester, won’t be going to trial anytime soon, according to his lawyer Ken Johnson.
His murder trial in Thurston County is now set for early next year, so attorneys today scheduled his Lewis County drug trial for after that, the Chehalis attorney said.
Maddaus is charged in Thurston County in the death of a man found handcuffed and shot to death on an Olympia street last November.
In Lewis County, his charges grew out of what police found inside a red Corvette when they stopped him and Centralia resident Robert S. Russell in the Chehalis Industrial Park after a police pursuit.
Last week, local prosecutors dropped one of four pending criminal cases against Russell saying the main witness, Maddaus, refused to cooperate. Russell, who is being held in Lewis County for alleged drug dealing, assault and other charges, is listed as a witness in Maddaus’s murder trial.
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Read the full story behind the police pursuit last November and why detectives say Robbie Russell was driving a red Corvette with a wanted murder suspect in the passenger seat, here.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter