Missouri man sentenced on felony drug charges

A Missouri man has been given a suspended sentence for felony possession charges involving both marijuana and methamphetamine, after being pulled over for speeding in Pine Haven last fall.

On August 27, 2020, a Crook County Sheriff’s Office Deputy saw a truck traveling towards him at a speed that seemed faster than the posted 45 mph. Radar allegedly recorded a speed of 51 mph, so the deputy turned around and executed a traffic stop.

The deputy reports that he identified the driver as Nickolaus Hayward from his Missouri identification card. Hayward allegedly admitted his license out of Missouri is currently suspended.

The deputy confirmed with dispatch that Hayward also has priors for driving with a suspended license. He asked Hayward to exit his truck and performed a pat search, at which time he allegedly smelled the odor of marijuana.

Hayward allegedly advised he had some marijuana and a few used needles inside the truck and that his dog, who was also inside the truck, was “not friendly toward law enforcement”. The deputy was able to remove the dog from the truck and then conducted a search.

The deputy allegedly located a small baggie containing what appeared to be methamphetamine and a small baggie containing suspected marijuana.

Hayward was transported to the Crook County Detention Center, where the substances were weighed and confirmed. The total weight of methamphetamine was less than three grams and the total weight of the marijuana was less than three ounces.

Hayward pled guilty to one felony count of possession of methamphetamine and one of possession of marijuana. He has known prior offenses between 2003 and 2018 in Sweetwater County, WY, and Butte County, SD.

Judge Thomas Rumpke sentenced Hayward to between two and four years of incarceration for each count, to run concurrently. The sentence has been suspended pending successful completion of three years of supervised probation.