Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
One of two California residents who faced felony charges of possession with intent to deliver after THC concentrate with an estimated street value of $100,000 was discovered in their vehicle during a traffic stop has been given a deferred sentence.
On November 29, 2020, a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper conducted a traffic stop on a pickup traveling eastbound on I-90 at a high rate of speed. When the trooper approached the vehicle, he allegedly smelled an overwhelming odor of perfume even through his cloth face mask.
The trooper reports that the driver’s hands were visibly shaking as he held his phone to show his electronic driver’s license. He asked the driver, Nathaniel Freeman, to come to his patrol vehicle to complete some paperwork; once there, the trooper asked him about his travel plans.
Freeman allegedly claimed that he and the female passenger were going to Rapid City to see family. Meanwhile, a license check indicated that Freeman’s driver’s license had expired.
The trooper returned to the vehicle and reports that the perfume odor had dissipated and he could smell a very strong odor of raw marijuana. The passenger, Paige Poor, who has not yet been sentenced, allegedly “lost the color in her face” when the trooper asked about marijuana and claimed she had smoked some earlier.
The trooper stated that he could smell raw marijuana, at which Poor allegedly “just stared out the passenger window and wouldn’t acknowledge that I was asking about marijuana.”
The trooper asked Freeman about the marijuana, at which Poor allegedly interrupted and said she had it in her possession; she then allegedly handed over a small bag of a green, leafy substance. The trooper reports feeling that Poor was attempting to dissuade him from searching the vehicle.
Poor was transported to the Crook County Detention Center by a Crook County Deputy. Before leaving the scene, she allegedly advised that the pair were headed to Minnesota to see Freeman’s family.
The trooper spoke with Freeman, who initially stated he was going to Rapid City but then said they were going just for a day, were planning to see Mount Rushmore and had a final destination of Kansas. The trooper suspected Freeman may be involved in trafficking drugs and advised him that he would be searching the vehicle based on the odor of marijuana and the meth pipes already found.
A probable cause search allegedly revealed marijuana shake throughout the vehicle, a measurable bud of marijuana in the cup holder, three large vacuum-sealed packages of what appeared to be concentrated THC.
The total weight of the packages was found to be 6.6 lbs. According to the trooper’s report, THC concentrates are sold in small packages, indicating “potentially thousands of doses” with a street value in excess of $100,000.
Freeman pled guilty to one felony count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Judge Thomas W. Rumpke sentenced him to between three and five years of incarceration and a $10,000 fine.
Both parts of the sentence were suspended pending successful completion of three years of supervised probation.
