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ST. GEORGE — Two brothers in St. George are facing numerous felony charges after their roommate died of a suspected drug overdose, which led to the discovery of numerous drugs and weapons, according to police.
Ryan Keith Burch, 44, was charged Monday in 5th District Court with 15 counts of possession of a weapon by a restricted person and six counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, second-degree felonies; an additional count each of possession of a weapon by a restricted person and drug possession with intent to distribute, third-degree felonies; and marijuana possession, a class B misdemeanor.
His brother, Eric Allen Burch, 47, was charged with two counts of drug possession, a third-degree felony; obstructing justice, a class A misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
On Friday, members of the Washington County Drug Task Force were called to a residence where a man was found deceased of a suspected drug overdose.
"(Eric Burch) told me that he had awoken that morning to the sound of his brother Ryan screaming downstairs. He rushed down and found their friend deceased in his bedroom," a police booking affidavit states.
Officers arrived and found the man "dead in his room of an apparent fentanyl overdose. Found nearby were blue M30 stamped pills and sheets of tin foil with distinctive burn marks on them. Also found was a line of cocaine and a rolled dollar bill, along with various bottles of hard liquor," according to the affidavit.
The man lived with the Burch brothers, both of whom have been previously convicted of felony crimes, police said. Knowing their criminal histories and seeing guns and other accessories in a common area while attending to the deceased man, police obtained a search warrant for the house.
Investigators seized 15 firearms in addition to various amounts of heroin, psychedelic mushrooms, nearly 500 fentanyl pills, cocaine and ecstasy, according to the affidavit.
"A search of the residence was conducted, and detectives found nine separate firearms in Ryan's room," the arrest warrant says. "Also found in the room was a large sword. In a storage space adjacent to Ryan's room … another six guns (were discovered). Both areas had large amounts of various ammunition in them as well."
Ryan Burch was arrested for investigation of DUI in July and was also found to have distributable amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine at that time, according to the affidavit.
