SCSO makes a follow-up arrest

Jesse D. Cates, age 64 was arrested by the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 23 on a warrant in connection with the warrant and arrest of Robert W. Standridge on Dec. 15.

The S.O. recently obtained a warrant for the arrest of Cates for the offense of Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 equal to or more than four grams, but less than 200 grams, a second degree felony. This warrant was for the same criminal offense/ date committed by Standridge on Dec. 15 when Deputy Justin Rose attempted to serve two misdemeanor warrants for theft against Standridge.

A recap of the original incident, on the evening of Dec. 15, Deputy Justin Rose attempted to serve two misdemeanor warrants for theft against Robert W. Standridge, age 64, at his residence at 1796 FM 3201. Standridge lives in a camper at this address near County Road 217. While Deputy Rose contacted Standridge, two other occupants were inside the camper. All three adults exited the camper, and while doing so, Deputy Rose smelled the odor of marijuana emitting from the camper.

Deputy Rose called Sheriff Will Holt and Deputy Flournoy to the scene for backup. Standridge did not give consent to search the camper, so Deputy Flournoy and Sheriff Holt stayed on scene to guard the camper while Deputy Rose and Chief Deputy Roach wrote an affidavit for a search warrant. The warrant was granted by the 90th District Judge, and then served at 1796 FM 3201 on the same evening.

Approximately nine grams of methamphetamine were discovered in the camper divided into multiple plastic bags. Possession of this amount is a second degree felony under the offense title: Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1. Approximately 2.5 ounces of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were also confiscated, along with other evidence.

The address, mentioned above, is owned by Cates. Cates lives in a residence on that site, as well.

Cates’ bond was set at $25,000, and he bonded out the next day.