Deputies: Man arrested carrying 1,000 fentanyl pills, meth, heroin cash and guns

A 55-year-old convicted felon was arrested late last month after deputies seized from him 1,000 or more fentanyl pills, about a pound of methamphetamine and a half-pound of heroin, plus two guns and over $7,000 in cash, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded the afternoon of Feb. 25 to a suspicious person call at the Quality Inn hotel, 7919 N. Division St. in North Spokane, a sheriff’s office news release said. An employee reported an unresponsive man, later identified as Phillip J. Motyka Jr., in the bathtub of a room. The employee saw pistols on the bathroom floor next to the tub, the release said.

Deputies detained Motyka and provided him medical attention, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies observed drug paraphernalia in the bathroom and found cash in the front pocket of Motyka’s sweatpants.

They executed a search warrant of the hotel room and Motyka’s car and found the various drugs during the search, deputies said. A field test of the meth and heroin gave a presumptive positive result, while the pills believed to contain fentanyl will be tested.

Motyka was booked into the Spokane County Jail on two counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, the sheriff’s office said. He was released three days later after posting a $15,000 bond.

On Friday, Motyka was contacted by a Spokane police officer for an unrelated call and again was found to be illegally in possession of a firearm, deputies said.

He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Motyka remains in jail as of Wednesday night with his total bond set at $100,000.

The Spokane Regional Safe Streets Task Force continues to investigate the incidents, with additional charges possible.