On her way to court last week, just before she was sentenced to 12 months probation in two cases of meth possession and two traffic cases, Marque Lopez was a passenger in a vehicle that allegedly contained meth.
A Cortez Police Department incident report states an officer pulled over a silver Dodge truck on West Main Street because of a defective brake light about 2:13 p.m. on Feb. 13. Out of four people in the truck, the officer reported that three – Roy Neskahi, Lopez and Robert Williams, the driver – had a history of illegal drug use.
Williams told the officer he was taking Lopez to court at 2:30 p.m., in about 15 minutes. The officer asked if there is anything in the vehicle he needed to worry about, to which Lopez said, No, they were headed to court.
Police drove Lopez to court so she would not be late, while other officers searched the car.
According to the police report, officers found a bag of meth and two syringes under Neskahi’s seat. Also in the backseat, an officer found a bag of men’s clothing with a .45-caliber handgun. Under the front passenger seat, an officer found two meth pipes and additional syringes.
A passenger named Tonia Lobato was arrested on a felony warrant for larceny and a felony investigation hold for impersonation. Williams was cited for defective brake light, no driver’s license, no insurance and an open Bud Light beer can in the back seat.
Neskahi, a convicted felon, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a handgun and a controlled substance. The bag of meth weighed 1.7 grams, according to the police report. The truck was towed.
After police drove Lopez to court, she pleaded guilty to possessing meth in a December 2018 case and was sentenced to 12 months probation. As part of a plea deal, a February 2018 meth possession case was dismissed.
Both of her drug cases, which are now dismissed, stemmed from traffic stops. Lopez also has two pending animal violation cases involving her pit bull, which allegedly attacked her neighbor’s sheep.
sdolan@the-journal.com