(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Payne County jury has recommended a 55-year prison term for a long-time drug offender convicted of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of a rifle, both in Stillwater.
Ulysses Jacques Johnson Bush, 35, of Stillwater, who has nine prior felony convictions from Payne County and has been known by six other names, remains in the Payne County Jail pending his sentencing on April 24 before District Judge Phillip Corley.
At the close of a two-stage trial last week, jurors recommended a 45-year prison term on the methamphetamine count and a 10-year prison term on the firearm count, both after former felony convictions.
Bush was arrested last year by Stillwater Police Officer Royce Stephens, who was conducting surveillance in the 1700 block of N. Benjamin as part of an ongoing drug investigation on March 19, 2014, according to his affidavit.
When Bush came out of a residence that was under observation, “He was carrying a white trash bag with a long object protruding from it wrapped in gift wrap paper,” which he put in a pickup bed before getting in the truck driven by a woman who was not wearing a seatbelt, the affidavit said.
During a traffic stop, the officer recognized the passenger as Bush, who “is known to me to be heavily involved in the distribution of illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine, and is reported to often carry weapons,” Stephens wrote in his affidavit.
“I had received an anonymous call the prior week concerning Bush. I was told that Bush had conducted a home invasion robbery of another drug dealer named Charles that week.
“The caller stated that Bush had pistol-whipped a 12-year-old boy during the robbery and had stolen a half-pound of marijuana and a rifle. I was told this robbery was not reported because the theft involved drugs,” Stephens wrote in his affidavit.
With the help of Stillwater Police Detective Adam Elliott, Bush was handcuffed and searched, the affidavit said.
In a pocket, Bush had a large prescription pill bottle containing several small bags with methamphetamine, the affidavit said.
“While I had been struggling with Bush, I had observed the trash bag he had carried out of the house on Benjamin sitting in the bed of the truck.
“After Bush was under control, I looked closer at the bag and realized that the item wrapped in paper protruding from the bag had the general shape of a rifle,” that turned out to be a .22-caliber with a scope, Stephens wrote in his affidavit.
“I know Bush to be a convicted felon that was released from prison approximately three months ago,” Stephens wrote in the affidavit filed a year ago.
“Bush was found to have in excess of $450 in one of his pockets. The bottle was found to contain three small empty zip top bags, a small bag containing one gram of methamphetamine, a small bag containing .5 grams of methamphetamine and another small bag containing three 10 mg. OxyContin tablets,” the affidavit said.
According to court records, Bush was 17 when he was first sent to prison for discharging a firearm from a vehicle in 1997 for which he was given a two-year term of incarceration, but served only about nine months, state Department of Corrections records show.
A year after he got out of prison, Bush was convicted of possessing a firearm and concealing stolen property in 1998 for which he was given a five-year term of incarceration, court records show.
When he was sentenced in that case in 1999, Bush was given three other five-year prison terms in separate cases for twice being a felon in possession of a firearm, and also for drug possession, court records show.
In 2005, Bush was convicted by a Payne County jury of possession of a drug without a tax stamp and being a felon in possession of a firearm, for which he was given an 11-year prison term, but apparently served only about three and one-half years, DOC records show.
In 2011, Bush was convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in Stillwater in 2010 and possession of methamphetamine and marijuana with intent to distribute and firearm possession in Glencoe in 2011, for which he was originally placed on 15 years’ probation with a condition that he successfully complete the Payne County Drug Court program, but he was terminated from that a year later, court records show.
In 2012, Bush was sent back to prison for four years in his Glencoe case for violating probation, but he only served about one year, DOC records show.
Also in 2012, Bush was convicted of possessing methamphetamine in Stillwater after a former felony conviction, for which he was originally given a four-year prison term followed by six years of probation, which was revoked last November to prison, court records show.
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