The Badger Herald

NEWS

Police make Gilman pot bust

Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.

Also by Cara Harshman:

Snowstorm hits town once again (March 24, 2008)
Cameras to protect city waters (March 24, 2008)
Activists protest 5 years of war (March 24, 2008)
Man fights off armed attacker (March 14, 2008)
Madison rakes in millions off high school sports fans (March 13, 2008)

by Cara Harshman

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Madison police arrested two men for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver near the University of Wisconsin campus Friday.

Police arrested Emmanuel Cervantes-Reyes, 21, for possession of tetrahydrocanabinol with intent to deliver and operating a vehicle under revocation, and Juan Martinez-Arias, 18, for possession with intent to deliver THC, according to a police report.

The Madison residents were sitting in a 2001 black Chevy Impala around West Gilman and West Gorham streets around 1 p.m. when a Madison police officer noticed a number of individuals walking up to the vehicle, said MPD Public Information Officer Howard Payne.

“That type of behavior, based on this particular officer’s training experience, was consistent with possible drug transactions,” Payne said.

The car started moving, and a police officer pulled it over on North Park Street for speeding violations and a license plate incongruent with the Department of Transportation’s description of the car, Payne said.

Based on suspicion of drugs, a K-9 unit arrived at the scene, sniffed out the car and discovered a total of 4 1/2 grams of marijuana divided into six individual bags in the front cab of the car, the report said. Cervantes-Reyes and Martinez-Arias claimed they had no idea the drugs were in the car.

According to Payne, the fact that the pot was divided in bags indicates intent to deal.

“You wouldn’t individually bag up drugs if you were using it for your own purposes,” Payne said.

Judy Schwaemle, Dane County deputy district attorney, said there is no set amount of marijuana or other drug in a person’s possession needed to merit a specific charge.

“It’s going to depend on too many variables,” Schwaemle said. “There is really no hard and fast rule in terms of amounts. It’s just not useful to base any charges on amounts alone.”

Payne said police also found some aluminum foil inside the car, which is sometimes used to package illegal drugs like heroin. Police did not find any other drugs in the car besides marijuana.

Cervantes-Reyes and Martinez-Arias were arrested with no bail, which Payne said leads him to believe the men were charged for felonies.

“It’s not just the amount that’s looked at. It’s also previous history coupled with possession as well,” Payne said. “That may have been taken into consideration with these particular arrests.”

Two other individuals in the backseat were not arrested and were returned to their homes, according to the report.

Payne said these individuals were backseat passengers and were not arrested because the contraband was found in the car’s front cab.

According to Payne, there are three ways a person can be charged for drug possession, depending on many variables. There is a ticket from the city, a misdemeanor charge and a felony charge. The misdemeanor and felony are issued at the state level, Payne said.

Schwaemle said the district attorney tends not to criminally charge for marijuana possession under about 28 grams, equivalent to one ounce, if there is no evidence of distribution.

If marijuana is found divided in different packages or if trafficking paraphernalia such as a scale or large amounts of cash is found at the scene, Schwaemle said these things are taken into consideration when determining the charge.

Payne said drug control is just one facet of the MPD’s work.

“We have lots of different officers with different specialties,” he said. “This is just another example of an officer paying close attention to what was going on in the environment.”

Feedback

Show all comments

Hide anonymous comments

Anonymous (March 25, 2008 @ 8:50am):

â��That type of behavior, based on this particular officerâ��s training experience, was consistent with possible drug transactions,â��

What he meant was, any Mexicans near the UW campus must be dealing drugs, because all of our students are white.

Anonymous (March 25, 2008 @ 8:56am):

4 1/2 grams? In SIX bags?!? What were they selling... $10 bags? lol

Anonymous (March 25, 2008 @ 9:05am):

Thank the lord for the courageous actions of the Madison Police Department in removing those 4.5 grams of dangerous and addictive marijuana from our pristine and safe streets! I'm sick of our streets turning dangerous every weekend when they fill up with stoned drivers, and stoned people fighting in front of bars! Marijuana tears families apart and funds terrorism! Truly, today a blow has been struck in the glorious and utterly successful War on Drugs!
- Germain Q. Stemme

Anonymous (March 25, 2008 @ 10:33am):

Four and a half grams off the streets. Now nobody will be able to get a little bit high. Good work.

Anonymous (March 25, 2008 @ 12:13pm):

Just 4 1/2 grams? Damn you should see my stash!

Anonymous (March 25, 2008 @ 2:45pm):

Will they be deported?

Anonymous (April 7, 2008 @ 11:18am):

dam 4.5 thats a fucking joke. I smoke more then that in a day

Add a comment

We welcome your thoughts, but please keep your feedback thoughtful, on-topic and respectful. Offensive language, personal attacks, or irrelevant comments may be deleted.