Zachary Fedokovitz

SLIPPERY ROCK — A Prospect man faces felony drug and gun charges after he was allegedly caught with more than three ounces of marijuana and a loaded pistol at a church parking lot in May.

Zachary A. Fedokovitz, 21, was arraigned Thursday on a list of charges in the investigation that began about 2:35 a.m. May 21 when police found him in a car parked at a church on South Main Street.

Slippery Rock police said they had stepped up patrols in the area after authorities had received complaints from neighbors of suspicious activity there.

Fedokovitz was in the driver's seat and a 17-year-old Butler girl was in the passenger seat. Police said the defendant appeared to be impaired and they smelled marijuana coming from the car.

An officer also noticed “numerous prescription pill bottles” in the vehicle, according to court documents. Police removed Fedokovitz from the car, and he admitted to smoking marijuana earlier that evening.

Police arrested him for suspected drugged driving.

A search of the car turned up a large amount of marijuana that was in a Mason jar, Tupperware container and Ziplock bags, documents said.

The marijuana weighed a combined 87.6 grams, or 3.09 ounces, according to a police affidavit.

Officers also found a Ziplock bag containing $420 in currency, all in $20 bills, as well as an electronic scale.

Additionally, police found a large butcher knife that was tucked in a homemade cardboard sheath, a small dagger-type knife and a folding knife.

Also seized was a Ruger .380-caliber pistol loaded with a magazine that had two rounds in it, documents said. The defendant, police said, did not have a permit to carry the gun, which was in a holster.

Fedokovitz was taken to the Grove City Medical Center for a blood test, which subsequently confirmed he had marijuana in his system.

Police took the defendant back to the station where he waived his right to an attorney and spoke to officers.

“Fedokovitz admitted that he does sell marijuana and buys it in the city of Butler,” the affidavit said, He also acknowledged that he smokes about an ounce of marijuana daily.

About a week later, police obtained a search warrant to look through his cell phone, which contained 23 text messages that investigators described as being conversations of the defendant “buying and selling quantities of marijuana.”

The phone also contained numerous photos of him with large amounts of the drug, police said, and weighing the drug on an electronic scale.

District Judge Bill O'Donnell arraigned Fedokovitz on felony charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a firearm without a concealed carry license.

Additionally, he is charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, possessing instruments of a crime, possessing prohibited offensive weapons and defiant trespass.

Fedokovitz remains free on $5,000 bail while awaiting a preliminary hearing Nov. 1 at O'Donnell's office in Slippery Rock.