ROCKINGHAM — A weekend traffic stop led to drug and weapon charges for a convicted felon.
Deputies with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office were patrolling East Rockingham on Saturday, Feb. 5 when they conducted a vehicle stop on Second Street Safie, according to a press release issued Monday.
The driver, 44-year-old Bryan Edward Taylor, reportedly admitted to deputies that he didn’t have a driver’s license and that the tag was registered to another vehicle.
Deputies reportedly noticed a shotgun in the backseat and Taylor reportedly told them he was a convicted felon.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Taylor was convicted in 2003 of possession with intent to sell or deliver a Schedule VI controlled substance in Scotland County.
According to the release, deputies searched the vehicle and found ammunition, marijuana and a glass pipe.
Taylor was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a felon (online court records show two counts), and one misdemeanor count each of possession of between a half-ounce and ounce and a half of marijuana, possession of marijuana paraphernalia and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was booked into the Richmond County Jail under an $11,000 secured bond, however did not appear to be in custody just after noon on Monday. Taylor is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 17.
Records show Taylor also has a Feb. 8 court appearance for citations issued by the N.C. State Highway Patrol: driving a vehicle with no insurance, driving a vehicle with no registration, having a fictitious or altered title, registration card or tag, and failing to wear a seat belt as a driver.
In addition to his previous felony conviction, records show Taylor was convicted in 2002 on a misdemeanor count of maintaining any place for a controlled substance and 2012 of driving while impaired, both in Richmond County.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.