Plate Light Stop Turns Into Trafficking Arrest With Fentanyl, Meth

In the early morning hours of December 9^th, Deputies conducted a traffic stop in the 4000 block of South Limit Avenue on a vehicle that had defective license plate lights. 

Deputies had been on patrol in the area of US 65 and Elm Hills Boulevard at 3:27 a.m., when the suspect vehicle, a Toyota Corolla Matrix, turned north bound from Hill boulevard onto US 65.  The Deputy then noticed the license plate lights on the vehicle were defective.

After speaking with the driver, the driver asked to step out of the vehicle to see the violation.  As he was stepping out, Deputies asked if he had any weapons on his person.  The driver advised Deputies he had a pistol in his waist band.  The deputy notes the pistol* magazine was loaded, but there was not a bullet in the chamber.

The driver granted consent to search the vehicle, and advised there was another pistol in a bag in the back seat.  In the back seat, Deputies located another weapon*.  Deputies noted again that the magazine was loaded, but there wasn’t a bullet in the chamber.  Under the driver’s seat, Deputies located a Marlboro NXT cigarette pack.  Inside the pack, a clear plastic wrapper with a white crystal substance was located.  After a field test, the substance showed a positive result for methamphetamine.  Deputies then located a black pelican case under the front passenger seat.  Inside the black case was a handgun*.

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The driver, Jacob Dylan Paxton, 30, of Sedalia, was then placed under arrest.  Paxton was transported to the Pettis County Jail. Before entering the jail, Deputies asked Paxton if there was anything on his person that was missed.  Paxton dropped his head and stared at the ground.  Deputies asked again if there was anything on his person.  Paxton then advised he had something on his person.  Paxton then removed a folded dollar bill from inside his waist band.

The dollar bill was tested at the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office.  Inside the dollar bill was a white crystal substance.  Using a scale, the collected weight of the substance inside the bill was measured at 1.3 grams**. After testing the substance, it was found to be fentanyl.  There was another folded dollar, which had a white crystal substance inside, coming to a weight of 1.1 grams.  The substance tested positively for methamphetamine.

Paxton was booked in on felony charges of Trafficking Drugs in the 2^nd Degree, felony Possession of a Controlled Substance, and felony Unlawful Use of a Weapon (Subsection 11)***.  Paxton was booked in, with bond set at $150,000 cash or surety.

*Information about the weapon itself was redacted in the Probable Cause statement.

**The statutory amount for trafficking fentanyl is 20 milligrams. Paxton had 1300 milligrams on his person at the time of arrest.

***571.030 Unlawful Use of  a Weapon,  (11):  Possesses a firearm while also knowingly in possession of a controlled substance that is sufficient for a felony violation of section 579.015.