A Hutchinson man is charged with possessing about 222.5 grams of suspected methamphetamine that a deputy found in two bags under the passenger seat of a car he was riding in during an Aug. 28 traffic stop in McLeod County, according to a complaint.
He is charged with one count of first-degree drug possession of 50 grams or more, a felony. The complaint lists the maximum sentence as 40 years in prison and/or a $1 million fine, with a 65-month mandatory minimum.
Nicholas Anthony Cassens, 44, is charged according to a complaint filed Nov. 3 in McLeod County District Court. A court date was not stated.
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According to the complaint, a deputy driving south on County Road 7 at about 1:43 a.m. Aug. 28 saw a vehicle cross the centerline. The deputy saw that the registration was listed as suspended and stopped the vehicle. The complaint says the driver was identified and the man was later identified as the passenger.
The complaint says the deputy noticed a strong chemical odor in the vehicle and that the driver had bloodshot eyes and very dilated pupils. It says the vehicle appeared to be lived in. The deputy wrote that the passenger appeared nervous and unusually still and would not engage in the conversation. The driver and passenger gave accounts of how they came to be together that the complaint describes as contradicting each other.
The driver was arrested on suspicion of DWI.
The complaint says the passenger was then asked to get out and said everything of his had been taken out of the car. When asked if anything else in the car was his, he looked toward the floorboard near the passenger seat and said “no” in what the deputy described as a questioning tone.
During the vehicle search the deputy found cannabis vaporizer cartridges, a glass pipe with cannabis residue and a radio frequency detector. Under the passenger seat the deputy found a large amount of white crystalline substance in two resealable bags. The complaint says it was suspected methamphetamine and was later weighed at 7.85 ounces or 222.5 grams.
The deputy then arrested the passenger. The complaint says the passenger asked the deputy not to tell the driver that the methamphetamine had been found. The complaint says prosecutors asked for a warrant because of his criminal history and the mandatory minimum sentence. It says the State will request significant bail at the first appearance.
