(PCSD file photos)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Drumright man and woman, who are both ex-convicts, have been jailed on $100,000 each pending court appearances before a Payne County judge on charges of trafficking methamphetamine in Cushing.
Michael Steven Hall, 66, and Patricia A. Gonzalis, 52, were arrested on Jan. 16 at 9:18 pm by Cushing Police Officer Jason Beal following a traffic stop in a restaurant parking lot, court records show. Hall has been ordered to appear in court on Thursday; Gonzalis has been ordered to appear in court on Feb. 6.
About 30 minutes before they were arrested, the Cushing police officer had been notified by Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Myers that Hall had an outstanding arrest warrant from Creek County and was possibly at the Cushing Walmart, an affidavit alleged.
While the officer was traveling on E. Main Street in Cushing, he spotted Hall driving his vehicle, which had a passenger later identified as Gonzalis, an affidavit alleged.
Hall was arrested on a bench warrant for failing to appear in court on Jan. 12 on a Creek County charge of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, maintaining an apartment in Drumright for keeping and selling a drug and also having drug paraphernalia, all in 2019, court records show.
Gonzalis was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Grant County for drug possession in 2007, an affidavit alleged.
“Before placing her in handcuffs, I instructed her to place anything she had in her possession on the hood of the car. As she placed various items on the hood, she pulled out a bag with a crystal-like substance and what I recognized as a glass-smoking pipe from her pocket,” the Cushing officer alleged in his affidavit.
“She turned to me and stated, ‘here I have a pipe.’ I advised her it was ok and to place it onto the hood. Gonzalis became hesitant, and I advised if she had anything else, it would be better to be discovered before she went into the jail, as the charges would be different.
“Patricia advised she did have something given to her by Hall, but it was in her (breast), and she was not wearing a bra. She advised she did not know what it was. She retrieved a package wrapped in black tape, as well as a separate bag containing a crystal-like substance. I recognized the substance as methamphetamine,” the Cushing officer alleged in his affidavit.
While conducting an inventory of the vehicle, “I located a purple bag containing a bag with a crystal-like substance and a small glass jar with a crystal-like substance. I recognized the substance as methamphetamine. I also found a plastic container with multiple small empty plastic bags,” the Cushing officer alleged in his affidavit.
“Inside the ball of black tape were two bags with a crystal-like substance. In total, there were seven different containers with a crystal-like substance measuring 71.3 grams in total. There were 25 small empty plastic baggies and a glass smoking pipe,” the affidavit alleged.
According to the state Department of Corrections, Hall has an extensive record of drug convictions dating back to 1995; he was last released from prison in 2017 after serving eight months of a three-year sentence for drug possession in Drumright in 2015.
Gonzalis also has an extensive record of drug convictions dating back to 1994 in Creek County; she was last released from prison in 2018 after serving 15 months of a five-year sentence for drug possession with intent to distribute in Tulsa County in 2017, DOC records show.
If convicted of trafficking more than 20 grams of methamphetamine in Payne County, Hall and Gonzalis could be each be given as much as a life prison term, court records show.
