Former Rare Staff
The couple of senior citizens who got busted in Nebraska with 60 pounds of marijuana are facing brand-new charges on suspicion of carrying drug money in the same state.
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Patrick Jiron, 80, and his wife, Barbara, 70, are out on bond and appeared in court on Wednesday for hearing in regard to allegedly possessing $18,000 worth of drug money. The couple was pulled over on Tuesday morning for tailgating after a sheriff’s deputy determined that “reasonable, articulable suspicion was obtained that criminal activity was afoot.” A drug-sniffing dog quickly led police to the trunk of their vehicle, where most of the money was discovered inside of a duffel bag along with traces of marijuana.
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The bust comes just after the couple was arrested back in December when they were stopped in Nebraska while in possession of at least $300,00 worth of marijuana. At the time, they told police they were on their way to Vermont to distribute the drugs to friends and family as Christmas presents. They also claimed they were unaware that it was illegal to carry the drug across state lines.
Elderly couple claims marijuana was for Christmas presents https://t.co/aCNGKuhJE0 pic.twitter.com/HyrTJfHcvz
— York News-Times (@yorknewstimes) December 20, 2017
“But now here we are, just weeks after we found them with all that high grade marijuana they said they planned to take to Vermont for Christmas gifts,” Lt. Paul Vrbka with the York County Sheriff’s Department said, casting doubt on the couple’s Christmas story. “And not too far from here, from what we’ve been told.”
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The Jirons are facing felony charges of possession of marijuana with the intent to deliver and no drug tax stamp, as Nebraska requires marijuana dealers to purchase a drug tax stamp from its Department of Revenue as evidence that the state’s drug tax has been paid. The couple is due to appear in court next week to face those charges.
An attorney for Patrick Jiron was unsure how the couple was planning to plead to the new charges and is reportedly looking into the incident to ensure that police did not execute an illegal search of the couple’s vehicle.
