Crime

ST. PAUL (WCCO) ― A Minnesota sports radio personality has been charged with possessing cocaine after being arrested in Maplewood, Minn. last week.

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Jeffrey John Dubay, one of the hosts of KFAN Radio's "PA and Dubay" show, with fifth-degree possession of cocaine, which is a felony.

According to the criminal complaint, a Maplewood police officer stopped Dubay around 4:45 p.m. on Oct. 15 because the registered owner of the vehicle he was driving had a suspended license. Before pulling over Dubay, the officer noticed something that looked like a yellow napkin was tossed from the passenger-side window.

Dubay, 40, was the only person in the car when the officer stopped it. Prosecutors said Dubay told the officer he knew his driver's license was suspended, but denied throwing anything out the window. He later said the incident would ruin his life, prosecutors said.

The officer retrieved the napkin and found a baggie that contained a substance. Tests confirmed the substance was .45 grams of cocaine. A pipe was also found near the napkin and cocaine.

"If somebody has a relatively small amount of a drug, the amount that would indicate it was there for their own personal use, then that is generally a fifth-degree or less serious drug charge," said Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner.

After he was arrested, Dubay told police he was in Maplewood to pay off a $200 drug debt. He told police he had started using crack last year, but had put himself in treatment. He told officers he lent his truck to his drug dealer over the weekend and the cocaine in the truck belonged to the drug dealer.

"Who it really belongs to is not so much a focus of the law as did you possess it," Gaertner said.

Dubay did say the pipe officers found belonged to him, prosecutors said.

Dubay's attorney, Mark D. Kelly, referred WCCO to comments he made to the Star Tribune, which he said, "without making any comment about the charges themselves," he and his client are "relieved that the formal charges were brought forward" to dispel misinformation on various websites that the drug involved in the arrest was methamphetamine.

On Monday, Dubay's KFAN co-host Paul Allen did the duo's radio show Monday morning without his partner. Allen didn't shy away from the investigation and during the show read the following statement on behalf of KFAN.

"We stick by Jeff no matter what happens and we have his back. Due to company policy, we're not permitted to elaborate on all of the particulars of the development and/or formulate opinions. As mama used to say 'It will all come out in the wash.' We wish peace and positivity for our friend and look forward to the day we can chat again," Allen said.

Station management wouldn't discuss Dubay's employment status but he has not been on the air with Paul Allen on the "PA and Dubay" show since his arrest.

Besides KFAN, Dubay also works for Fox Sports Net covering Minnesota Gopher Hockey.

Dubay had been off the air for the previous couple of days before the arrest. This summer he took a leave of absence from the station for personal reasons.

Dubay's first court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 24. If convicted, he faces up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Gaertner said generally in drug cases like this, those convicted are ordered to treatment.

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