(Stillwater, Okla.) – A rental car driver, who was stopped by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol on I-35 for speeding in Payne County, has been placed on five years’ probation for possessing $1,104 from drug sales and having synthetic marijuana with intent to distribute, a court official told KUSH.
Michael L. Harper, 34, of Omaha, Nebraska, was ordered at his sentencing last week to have a substance abuse evaluation, follow any recommendations, undergo random drug tests, perform 50 hours of community service, and pay $1,250 in fines and assessments along with court costs.
Harper was driving a rental car at 82 m.p.h. in a 70 m.p.h. zone when he was stopped in Payne County by OHP Trooper Ryan Long at 10:45 a.m. on Aug. 19, 2016, an affidavit said.
“Harper seemed overly nervous and was unsure about his trip itinerary,” the trooper’s affidavit said.
Asked if he had any contraband in the car smelling of marijuana, “Harper stated that there was not and stated that he and his passenger had been at a family’s house in Dallas earlier in the day where marijuana was being smoked and that’s where the odor was coming from,” the affidavit said.
“Long searched the trunk of the Toyota and located a white plastic bag under the floor panel of the trunk, sitting on top of the spare tire. Long opened the plastic bag and observed another clear plastic bag containing many smaller bags labeled ‘Bizarro,’” which is synthetic marijuana, the affidavit said.
“Harper changed his original story that he had told Long and explained that he had rented the car in Omaha, Nebraska, and driven to Dallas, Texas, to purchase the synthetic marijuana and was transporting it back to Omaha. Harper stated that he purchased the synthetic marijuana for about $500. Harper stated that it was illegal in Nebraska and the only place he knew where to get it was at a specific gas station in the Dallas area,” the affidavit said.
Harper had $1,104 in cash in his wallet, the affidavit said. Harper told the trooper he drove a dump truck for a living, and later said that he was unemployed, the affidavit said.
“Once at the Payne County Sheriff’s Office, Long opened the bag containing the synthetic marijuana and counted 105 individual bags,” the affidavit said.
Harper pleaded guilty to possessing the synthetic marijuana with intent to distribute, but no contest to having $1,104 in cash from drug sales, court records show.
According to a background report compiled by Department of Corrections Probation and Parole Officer Clint Moore, Harper had previously been convicted in Douglas, Nebraska, of:
* bank robbery in December 2008 for which he was given 41 months in federal prison with 36 months of supervised probation;
* drug possession with intent to distribute and selling marijuana in October 2008 for which he was given one year of probation;
* crack possession in December 2000 for which he was placed in a diversion program.
When he was interviewed in August for the background report, Harper said that he was currently employed at a transport company in Omaha, Nebraska, where he had worked for the past six months, court records show.
***
