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Jared Michael Desroches and Alexander Clifford Gordon

Jared Michael Desroches, 30, of Missoula, left, and Alexander Clifford Gordon, 24, of Helena, right, were charged March 5, 2019, in Douglas County District Court with two counts of controlled substance crimes in the first degree for possession of more than 50 kilos of marijuana.

A Minnesota prosecutors' case went up in smoke this week after a judge ruled the state trooper who reportedly found 900 pounds of marijuana in a camper driven by two Montana men had made an illegal seizure.

Jared Michael Desroches of Missoula and Alexander Clifford Gordon of Helena were arrested in March and charged in Douglas County District Court in Minnesota with two counts of controlled substance crimes in the first degree for possession. 

On Tuesday, Judge Timothy Churchwell ruled the trooper had sufficient cause to stop the vehicle, but that the Minnesota state trooper did not have grounds to expand the traffic stop into a search of the vehicle, the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis reported Thursday. 

The trooper, Aaron Myren, initially reported it was unusual to see campers traveling on Interstate 94 during that time of year, but lawyers for the two Montana men said the video of the traffic stop showed at least five other campers go by during the stop. The video also didn't support Myren's claim that the camper was swerving over the road lines, the Star Tribune reported. 

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Because Churchwell's ruling on the defense attorney's motion to dismiss put the pot out of prosecutors' reach, he dismissed the charges as well. 

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