'Please, sir, don't take me to jail'

Karen Voyles
Staff writer

Published: Monday, July 12, 2010 at 12:32 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, July 12, 2010 at 12:32 p.m.

A Gainesville man was arrested Sunday, one day after his birthday, after Waldo Police pulled his truck over to check its tint and found bags of marijuana, cash and a pistol.

Stacey Jerald Dennis, who turned 36 on Saturday, was charged with possession of marijuana, possession with intent to sell marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and delivering drug paraphernalia.

Dennis, of 3721 N.W. 63rd St. in Gainesville, was driving a Ford F150 pickup northbound on U.S. 301 with one passenger, Jimmie Leon Ross, 30, of 2806 S.E. 19th Ave. in Gainesville, on Sunday night. Officer Brandon Roberts said he noticed the dark tint on the truck's window and decided to pull the truck over. While following the truck, Roberts said he received confirmation from dispatchers that the owner of the truck had an expired driver's license.

After Dennis pulled over and acknowledged he had let his license lapse by a day, Roberts said he noticed the odor of marijuana. Officer Jeff Pedrick assisted in the search of the truck, which turned up two partially smoked marijuana cigarettes, a freshly rolled marijuana cigarette, a wad of cash, a plastic container of sandwich-size plastic bags of marijuana, several boxes of flavored cigars, a glass smoking pipe and a .45-caliber handgun.

The gun was found in the glove box of the car, directly in front of the seat where Ross had been sitting. According to police, the handgun had been reported stolen out of Levy County. Ross had served a year in state prison on drug charges and was released in 2007. He was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Dennis and Ross both were charged with one count each of delivery of drugs, possession of marijuana, drug possession with intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100712/ARTICLES/100719906/1105/NEWS?Title=-Please-sir-don-t-take-me-to-jail-&tc=ar