WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah, Dec. 14, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A driver who reportedly told a Utah Highway Patrol trooper he had just enough marijuana for personal use was booked into jail after a search of his vehicle found 104 pounds.
The UHP trooper first noticed an SUV, with a window tint that looked darker than allowed by Utah law, at 11:09 a.m. Tuesday. The vehicle, which had a Florida license plate, was northbound on Interstate 15 near the Arizona border.
The trooper began following the SUV, which took exit 2 into a neighborhood. The trooper pulled over and waited about 10 minutes, at which point the SUV reentered the highway and reportedly began following another vehicle too closely.
The officer turned on emergency lights and pulled over suspect Juwuan U. Leonard, 37, near mile marker 5. The trooper noted a THC vape pen on the vehicle’s console.
Leonard said he had left his license in Las Vegas, and gave a false name and date of birth, not found in a system search.
“When I asked him, he was adamant that was his name and date of birth,” Leonard’s arrest documents say. “I asked him how much marijuana was in the vehicle. He told me that he had just personal use marijuana in the vehicle that he purchased in Las Vegas, Nevada. I asked him if he had a medical marijuana card and he told me that he did not.”
The officer told Leonard, by then in the front seat of the patrol car, he was going to search the vehicle. When Leonard was told to move to the back seat, “he sprinted back toward his vehicle to flee the scene. As he was entering his vehicle I deployed my Taser and stopped him from entering the vehicle.”
Leonard and a female passenger were placed into custody.
“We searched the vehicle and found approximately 104 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle. We also found personal use marijuana and paraphernalia. We also located a large amount of U.S. currency in the purse of the passenger. Some of the marijuana was also located in the luggage with clothes belonging to the passenger.”
According to cannibusbenchmarks.com, 104 pounds of marijuana is worth about $99,112.
Leonard’s window tint was also checked, and showed approximately 15 % of light transmittance. Utah code requires that tints allow more than 43% of light in.
Leonard was charged on suspicion of:
- Marijuana possession of 100 pounds or greater, a second-degree felony
- Fail to stop at command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
- Possession of controlled substance marijuana/spice, a class B misdemeanor
- False personal information with intent to be another actual person, a class C misdemeanor
Leonard was booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility without bail. No arrest records were available for his passenger.
