(Stillwater, Okla.) – A Cushing man arrested in Perkins on Highway 33 after a traffic stop on his car by a sheriff’s deputy at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday has been released on $7,500 bail pending a June 27 court appearance on a felony charge of possessing marijuana with intent to distribute – two weeks after he was placed on probation for misdemeanor marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession.
If convicted of his felony marijuana charge, Kirkland Javier Zuniga, 21, could be given a prison term of five years to life plus a $100,000 fine. Zuniga could also be given a one-year jail term and a $1,000 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor count of possessing drug paraphernalia, described as plastic baggies and digital scales.
In an affidavit filed today, Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Dakota Murley alleged that after he stopped Zuniga’s car that was being driven by a 16-year-old girl, he could see marijuana in the door pocket on the passenger side where Zuniga was sitting.
During an ensuing search of the car, the deputy found .5 grams of marijuana from the passenger door, 2.5 grams of marijuana with digital scales from the center console, and .1 gram of marijuana in a cigarillo package, the affidavit alleged.
Zuniga told the deputy, “the female driver had nothing to do with anything located in the vehicle and he wished to exercise his rights and not answer any questions,” the affidavit alleged.
Two weeks earlier on May 7, Zuniga had pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors of possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Stillwater on June 7, 2017, for which he was placed on two years’ probation under a deferred sentence with an order to serve 30 days in jail beginning on June 4, along with paying incarceration fees and $685 in other costs, as well as performing a substance abuse evaluation, random drug tests and 25 hours of community service.
Also on May 7, Zuniga admitted he had violated his two-year probation on a 2015 charge of stealing coins and buckets in Cushing, possessing marijuana and having drug paraphernalia described as digital scales, baggies and pipes, for which he had been ordered in 2016 to pay $585 restitution along with $700 in other costs, as well as perform a substance abuse evaluation, random drug tests, and 25 hours of community service plus show proof of full-time employment or enrollment in WorkForce Oklahoma. For that probation violation, Zuniga was given a concurrent 30-day jail term beginning on June 4, court records show.
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