By: Patti Weaver

(Stillwater, Okla.) — A repeat drug offender from Cushing accused of being a convicted felon in possession of a loaded gun when he was stopped for driving on a suspended license has been ordered to appear in court on Sept. 10 for a preliminary hearing.

 

 

Michael Lewis Ward, 38, remains jailed on $10,000 bail on a three-count charge including transporting an opened container of an alcoholic beverage. If convicted of all counts, Ward could be incarcerated for 11 years and six months, court records show.

 

 

Ward was arrested at 11:07 p.m. on July 15 following a traffic stop at Hough and Walnut Streets in Cushing, according to a police affidavit.

 

 

Cushing Police Officer Cody Carpenter alleged in an affidavit that he stopped Ward’s vehicle because he had a suspended license.

 

 

“Ward stated he was just trying to help some friends get home. Ward advised he had a ‘stay’ on his license and he could be out driving,” but he did not have any paperwork showing that, the affidavit alleged.

 

 

“I observed a yellow can in the floorboard cup holder that had Smirnoff on the can. I asked Ward about the can and he stated he forgot the can was there,” the Cushing officer alleged in his affidavit.

 

 

Before the officer began to inventory the impounded vehicle, “Ward stated there was a firearm located inside the vehicle that he said he found and wanted to turn it in. Ward stated the firearm was located in a lunchbox in the back seat of the vehicle,” the affidavit alleged.

 

 

“Sgt. Piatt located a firearm in the center console area of the vehicle. The firearm was a Parabellum Super 12 9mm handgun that had a loaded magazine, but not one in the chamber,” the affidavit alleged.

 

 

“Throughout the inventory, Sgt. Piatt located several loose rounds of ammunition that appeared to match the ammunition located in the magazine of the recovered firearm. Sgt. Piatt also located a 12 gauge shotgun shell that was still intact,” the affidavit alleged.

 

 

According to court and Oklahoma Department of Corrections records, Ward had been previously convicted of:

 

 

* methamphetamine possession in Cushing in 2017, for which he was given a 180-day jail term followed by nine and one-half years of probation with Drug Court;

 

 

* methamphetamine possession in Cushing in 2016, for which he was given in 2017 a 180-day jail term followed by nine and one-half years of probation with random drug tests;

 

 

* methamphetamine possession in Payne County in 2012, for which he was given a four-year prison term in 2013 of which he served about 14 months prior to his release in July 2014;

 

 

* obtaining a drug by forgery or fraud in Drumright in 2012, for which he was given a two-year prison term in 2013 of which he served about six months;

 

 

* domestic assault and battery in Payne County in 2007, for which he was given a three-year prison term in 2008 of which he served about 13 months;

 

 

* passing a bogus check in Payne County in 2005, for which he was given five years’ probation in 2006;

 

 

* drug possession in Drumright in 2004, for which he was originally given five years’ probation that was changed in 2008 to a three-year prison term of which he served less than one year.

 

 

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