(Stillwater, Okla.) – A former Cushing man with prior convictions from crimes in Cushing and Sand Springs was given a five-year prison term Friday for having a loaded pistol in a vehicle during a traffic stop in Stillwater.
Joshua Robert Reeder, 27, who admitted possessing a firearm after a former felony conviction, was sentenced by Payne County District Judge Phillip Corley in accordance with a plea bargain with the prosecution that was approved in court Friday.
His girlfriend, ex-convict Amanda Jane Sumpter, 31, who has also been known by the surnames of Tyndall and Valdez, remains in the Payne County Jail on $80,000 bail on the gun charge, as well as possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and having drug paraphernalia, court records show.
The couple, who lived together in the 1900 block of Wedgewood Court in Stillwater, were arrested following a traffic stop by Stillwater Police Officer Chance Whiteley shortly before 9 p.m. on June 21, according to an affidavit.
The officer was on patrol in the 300 block of E. McElroy in Stillwater when he saw their vehicle pass his location and go over the railroad tracks, according to his affidavit.
“As the vehicle crossed the tracks, I saw a large metal object swing down from the undercarriage of the car and hit the roadway several times…In the 500 block of E. McElroy, the vehicle suddenly swerved into the south curb hard enough to knock the vehicle sideways,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.
“During my interaction with the driver and other occupants, they displayed multiple indicators of nervousness above and beyond that of the general motoring public, with which I have interacted with on over 2,000 traffic stops,” the Stillwater officer wrote in his affidavit.
“Both Amanda and Joshua denied consent to search the vehicle,” so the officer asked for a K9 to come to his location, where the officer was advised to search the vehicle, the affidavit alleged.
“As I opened the driver door, I immediately noticed a handgun wedged between the front seat and the console in plain view. I removed the handgun and found it to be magazine-loaded,” the Stillwater officer alleged in his affidavit.
“Drugs and drug paraphernalia were found inside the vehicle as well,” the affidavit alleged.
“Joshua said he had no idea the firearm was in the vehicle, even though it was sitting just inches from his leg in plain view,” the affidavit alleged.
None of the occupants admitted to knowing about the gun, the affidavit said.
According to records from the state Department of Corrections and the court system, Reeder had previously been convicted of:
* assault with a dangerous weapon in Cushing in 2009 for which he was originally given a deferred sentence that was changed in 2014 to a five-year suspended sentence except 20 days in jail, the balance of which was revoked Friday to a concurrent prison term;
* conspiracy, second-degree forgery and use of a stolen credit card in Cushing in 2010 for which he was given in 2014 three concurrent five-year suspended sentences except 20 days in jail, the balance of which was revoked Friday to a concurrent prison term;
* second-degree burglary and unauthorized use of a vehicle in Sand Springs in 2010 for which he was given in 2011 concurrent probationary sentences of five years and three years in Tulsa County.
According to records from DOC and Payne County, Sumpter under the surname of Tyndall had been previously convicted of:
* child neglect in Stillwater in 2015 for which she was originally given probation that was revoked in 2015 to two years in prison with an order that on her successful completion of in-custody drug treatment the balance would be suspended in 2017;
* conspiracy to bring contraband into the Payne County Jail in 2016, for which she was given in 2016 an eight-year prison term with an order that on successful completion of drug treatment in custody the balance would be suspended in 2017;
* methamphetamine possession in Payne County in 2016, for which she was given in 2016 a concurrent eight-year prison term with an order that on successful completion of drug treatment in custody the balance would be suspended in 2017.
In Sumpter’s current case in Payne County, she was released on $40,000 bail on June 22, but when she failed to appear in court on Nov. 5, a bench warrant was issued for her arrest and she was re-jailed with her new bail set at $80,000. Sumpter has been ordered to appear in court Tuesday with an attorney.
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