A 21-year-old man who was found with a pistol in his possession during a traffic stop was sentenced Monday to two years of community control.
Christopher M. Molina, of Washington C.H., served a 90-day jail sentence on a guilty plea to having weapons under disability, a felony of the third degree.
Molina appeared Monday with his attorney Susan Wollscheid in the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas for sentencing after a pre-sentence investigation was conducted.
The Fayette County Prosecutor’s Officer stated that Molina has no prior felonies and recommended community control as a sentence. Steven Beathard, Fayette County Court of Common Pleas Judge, said that he will agree with the state’s recommendation for community control so long as Molina cooperates with adult probation and doesn’t get into more trouble.
Officers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Washington Court House Police Department allegedly found Molina to be under the influence of marijuana when he was stopped for a traffic violation near Paint Street July 15.
A State Highway Patrol officer reported that Molina had specks of green marijuana on the front of his shirt and in his lap, and appeared by his glassy eyes to be under the influence.
Molina told the officer he had just smoked a blunt, reports said.
The officer reported he found a plastic bag with some green leafy material presumed to be marijuana and a couple of items related to smoking marijuana. A Smith & Wesson pistol was found in Molina’s rear belt line during the traffic stop.
While waiting to be processed into the Fayette County Jail, an officer asked Molina how often he smoked marijuana and Molina indicated that he smoked every day, according to reports.
In addition to the 90-day jail sentence and two years of community control, Molina was ordered to complete an additional 180-day program at the SEPTA Correctional Facility in Nelsonville.