Man pleads in drug case
A former Butler Township man, currently serving more than four years in a state correctional institution for unrelated drug delivery charges in another county, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to drug-related charges in Butler County Court on Tuesday.
Zachary E. Smith, 25, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia before county Judge William Shaffer.
He was sentenced to 24 months probation and ordered to pay court costs.
The Butler County charges stem from a traffic stop at Route 8 and Rockdale Road, Penn Township, on March 5.
After smelling marijuana, police searched the car and found Smith's backpack, which allegedly contained a Mason jar filled with suspected marijuana, a scale, rolling papers, marijuana grinder and pipe, and a notebook believed to detail what alleged drug buyers owed.
Police said the seized items were evidence of “drug trafficking.”
A full report will appear in the Butler Eagle.