Deputies Pulled Over the Van Driver for a Moving Violation
It was a lane change that got Barry Lee Stadler pulled over.
It was, however, the 429 pounds of marijuana that got him tossed in jail.
The date was April 21st, and the location of the traffic stop was in Ohio County near The Highlands. Major Rod Vaught and Cpl. Nate Dober had witnessed a middle-aged white male driving a white van erratically in the eastbound lanes of I-70 near the bottom of Two-Mile Hill.
Seconds after approaching Stadler’s van, the two deputies discovered hundreds of pounds of pot with a street value of nearly $1 million, according to Sheriff Tom Howard. Stadler’s van was registered in his native Michigan, but he told investigators his trip had started in Oklahoma and was headed to New York.
Although Stadler admitted only to possessing a small amount of marijuana in the van’s middle console, Vaught and Dober not only discovered a burned joint, a small amount of cannabis, a glass bowl, and a grinder, but the deputies also discovered 10 large, brown boxes and six huge garbage bags loaded with packaged marijuana.
“Not only is this the largest marijuana bust in my career, this is the largest in the history of the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office, ever,” Howard reported. “This is just proof that on a daily basis that we have a lot of bad stuff flowing this county on a daily basis, but it also a prime example why I am so big on enforcing the traffic laws along I-70.
“We do a lot of traffic stops on Interstate 470 and I-70 on a daily basis. People may not realize it, but our deputies spend a lot of time on the interstates enforcing speed limits, especially since the I-70 project started nearly three years ago,” he continued. “This bust took place because of speeding, and our guys did an awesome job. This is why our guys will continue running traffic every day.”
Stadler, of Hudsonville, Michigan, was arraigned by Ohio County Magistrate Patty Murphy. He was charged with possession and intent to distribute a felonious amount of a Level I narcotic and was held in the Northern Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash only bond until federal authorities took custody of the smuggler, according to Ohio County Magistrate Janine Varner.
Soon after LEDE News was the first media source in the Wheeling area to report the arrest, several local residents expressed displeasure with the arrest because of recent progress with state laws allowing medicinal marijuana in 37 states, including West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
“The law is still the law, and enforcing the law is our duty until those laws are changed,” Howard insisted. “This bust is just proof that on a daily basis that we have a lot of bad stuff flowing this county on a daily basis, but it also a prime example why I am so big on enforcing the traffic laws along I-70.
“We do a lot of traffic stops on Interstate 470 and I-70 on a daily basis. People may not realize it, but our deputies spend a lot of time on the interstates enforcing speed limits, especially since the I-70 project started nearly three years ago,” he continued. “This bust took place because of speeding, and our guys did an awesome job. This is why our guys will continue running traffic every day.”
