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20DollarCue

Right after making a transaction last night, I came back to my truck to find a police officer talking with my friend. I tried to "bluff" him by approaching him directly and making conversation. He asked me what I was doing there, and I told him something different than my friend did. At that point, he was probably very suspicious.

He asked me if I had any illegal substances on me. I said "No", then he said, "so if I search you right now I'm not going to find anything?" (In hindsight a very loaded question). At that point, I came clean because I thought he would inevitably search me. I began telling him the truth and gave him the 1/4 oz that I just purchased.

Then he searched my truck for "illegal stuff", which didn't turn up anything. After this little episode, he pulled me over to the police car and began asking me lots of questions. He asked for my parents address (I go to college), phone numbers, my local address... the whole works. When he was done writing everything down, he stood back up, looked me in the eye and said "if I ever catch you around here again, i'm going to arrest you". He then made me give him an obligatory "yes sir".

I'm a little baffled by the whole situation. I've never had any criminal offenses of any sort before. My impression was that he would give me some kind of official document, which I didn't receive. His very sincere warning almost made it sound like he wasn't going to bust me. Common sense tells me otherwise -- I'm expecting some documents to come in the mail in a few weeks.

Is it *possible* that I got off the hook? Is this a standard procedure for posession charges? Another question -- I am really really dreading having my name in the local newspaper, is there anything I can do to not have it listed in the police blotter? Anyone busted in PA that can give me some idea as to what is going to happen? I want to know what to expect.

Thank you for your time
20DollarCue

 

drOnly

ahh man you got lucky.. sounds like you were busted by one of the few cool cops.. if you didnt get any kind of tickets and he just let you go i would deffinitely not worry.. He could have very easily taken you to jail for possession, but i guess he was in a good mood.. or maybe he just needed some herbs for himself... you got extremely lucky.. i can garuntee if he catches you again with weed it will end with you going to jail / getting charged..

O High O

Yeah, I concur with DrOnly. You got f'n lucky. Don't sweat it.. The info he wrote down was probably just to make you sweat it & it appears as if it worked. The "If I ever catch you around here again.." line usually means you're off the hook.

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20DollarCue

Thanks for the fast reply. That makes me feel a bit better. So you think I may have gotten very lucky? Has anybody had a similar situation (no ticket/arrest) and gotten charged at a later date? Very nervous about this situation. I'm one semester away from graduating from college.

Jerry G

Dude,

You are fine. You got a free pass. Cops know .25oz is very small weight, this guy had something better to do than fuck with you.

Congratulations

 

drOnly

exactly.. he probally didnt feel like fucking with the paper work and taking you in.. dont sweat it at all.. for real.. anything he wrote down was just bullshit to scare you and keep ya from buying drugs in his area...

Viper420

I did a long time ago. I was smoking a joint in the Philadelphia subway and the cop came up to me and told me to toss it the tracks and "Knock that shit off". No charges though. If they don't hand you any paperwork, then you're free to go and thank god.

phuzz01

Depending on the state, the statute of limitations to charge someone with drug possession can be several months, a year, or longer. So, while the officer chose not to arrest you on the spot, that does not mean that you can never be charged.

I am not saying that you are necessarily going to be charged. But, for example, if the officer finds out that you get caught with drugs again in the future, he could still bring charges from this incident if it is within the statute of limitations.

Viper420

I'm thinking (I could be wrong) that the officer would have had to give him some kind of paperwork (everything runs on paperwork) if there was an "official" recording of this incident. My feeling is that the officer was in a forgiving mood and let the guy off with a warning.

20DollarCue

I'm still a bit worried about this: I refer to a posting on FreeAdvice.com:
pensylvania possession of marijuanna and paraphenillia no papers given on scene - FreeAdvice Forums

In this case, the person wasn't given any documents on the scene, but later received them in the mail in about a month.

Going to get some free legal advice today through the University.