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St. James man faces felony

FAIRMONT — A St. James man is facing a felony charge in Martin County.

Arnulfo Morales Banda, 18, has been charged with drug possession in the fifth degree, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the complaint:

At 1:10 a.m. April 7, a Fairmont police officer observed a gray GMC Yukon driving in front of him while on patrol. The officer ran the license plate of the vehicle, which came back to a party out of St. James. The driving status of the registered owner came back as canceled.

The officer pulled alongside the vehicle and observed two males in the front seats. The passenger looked at the officer, then looked away and his window began to go up. The officer observed the window tint seemed to be darker than what was allowed under Minnesota law.

The officer initiated a traffic stop and approached the driver, identified as Banda. The officer advised Banda that his window tint appeared to be too dark, and asked Banda if he was the owner of the vehicle. Banda replied it was his father’s vehicle.

While speaking with Banda, the officer could smell the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. The officer then retrieved his window tint meter, which showed a reading of 31 percent transmittance.

Banda indicated he had just gotten off work and was going to Walmart. The officer observed that the passenger would not look at him, and asked if he was OK. The passenger replied he was, and continued to look straight ahead.

The officer spoke briefly with another officer and then asked Banda to step from the vehicle. When asked if there were any drugs in vehicle, Banda said there were not. When asked for consent to search the vehicle, Banda immediately said no.

When asked about the smell of marijuana, Banda stated his passenger was smoking before, and continued to deny there was marijuana in the vehicle. The officer then advised Banda that he was going to do a complete search of the vehicle based on the odor.

The officer proceeded with the search and could see a large amount of money wrapped in rubber bands, along with plastic Ziplock baggies. However, he could not open the center console completely.

During the search, officers also found unopened bottles of alcohol, small buds of marijuana in the ash tray, scales, plastic baggies and a large amount of marijuana.

Banda was read his rights and stated he was not willing to talk with the officer. The passenger also was read his rights and agreed to talk. The passenger said he was just picked up and nothing in the vehicle belonged to him.

The marijuana was later weighed and was determined to weigh 211 grams. Officers were later able to open up the center console in the vehicle and located a large amount of $1 bills rolled up. Banda also had $240 in his wallet.

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