When you're charged with a crime, you have a right to defend yourself against those charges. This man was allegedly caught after violating his parole, and now he's being charged with additional crimes. According to the story, he was caught while relieving himself at a West Side RTA station in Cleveland, and now police want to charge him with drug trafficking despite the fact that no sale was taking place at the time of the man's arrest.
This man was honest when an officer approached him and asked if he had any drugs on him. According to the story, the man had unburnt marijuana in baggies on him, but that substance was not yet verified by the crime lab. The officer reported finding 24 individually wrapped baggies along with a knife and $106 on the man; all of those items were seized while the officer reported the potential drug violation.
News reports claim that the 48-year-old man may have his case taken directly to the grand jury in Cleveland. He could be indicted on charges of drug trafficking, carrying a concealed weapon, disorderly conduct and the possession of criminal tools. Some of the criminal tools the police claim the man had included the concealed knife, the baggies of the alleged drugs and the money he was carrying on him.
Surprisingly, despite the allegations against the man for his parole violation, the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court suspended the probation. This does bring up further questions about why he was being sought by police in the first place. The man was ordered to be released, which could impact the police's current allegations, since they reportedly had focused on the man's previous attempted drug trafficking conviction in 2011.
Source: Cleveland.com, "Wanted man caught relieving himself at Ohio City RTA station had drugs, knife on him, reports say" Cory Shaffer, May. 28, 2014