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A Morgantown man has been charged with possession with intent to distribute after Gilmer County Sheriffâs deputies said they found about a pound of marijuana during a traffic stop.
On Oct. 15, deputies were on patrol near Highway 5 West in Glenville when they observed a white 2012 Ford F-150 approach a stop sign at the intersection of Highway 5 and Lewis Street while its driver was talking on a cell phone while operating the vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.
Deputies then turned on their cruiserâs lights and siren to make a traffic stop on the truck, and the vehicle pulled to the side of the road, deputies said. When deputies approached the vehicle, they informed the driver, Ryan Bailey, 19. or Morgantown, the reason for the stop, according to the complaint.
Bailey told deputies he knew why they had stopped him and apologized for being on his cell phone while driving, and deputies took Baileyâs information and ran Baileyâs information, deputies said.
Deputies wrote Bailey a citation for driving in violation of the cell phone policy, and as they were speaking to Bailey, deputies could “smell a faint odor of green marijuana coming from the vehicle,” according to the complaint.
At that point, deputies asked Bailey if there was anything in the vehicle, and Bailey replied there was not, then deputies asked to search the truck, at which point Bailey admitted to smoking marijuana in the vehicle earlier that day, deputies said.
Bailey was asked to step out of the truck, and Bailey then told deputies that he did have marijuana in the vehicle and asked if he could give it to the deputies, according to the complaint.
Deputies said that Bailey then reached behind him to the back seat and grabbed a black grocery bag which had been stored behind the passenger seat and told deputies that “there was a pound of marijuana in the bag,” deputies said.
When the bag was opened, deputies saw a one small vacuum-sealed bag of presumed marijuana and another, larger vacuum-sealed bag of marijuana inside, according to the complaint.
Deputies told Bailey to exit the vehicle so a thorough search could be performed, during which deputies said they found a scale and large box of ziplock bags in the front passenger seat of the truck.
Bailey is charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. He is being held in Central Regional Jail on $15,000 bond.
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