A Saturday evening traffic stop on I-95 in Baltimore County led state police to catch a man who they say had five trash bags stuffed with marijuana stashed in his car.
A Maryland state trooper who posted up on the interstate on Saturday stopped 67-year-old John Demorest around 5 p.m. after seeing him driving above the speed limit. Police say Demorest resides in Waterbury, Conn., but he was traveling past White Marsh heading north in a Chrysler minivan that night.
During the stop, the trooper saw “several indicators of criminal activity.” He called for a K-9 unit, and the dog tipped him off that there was something criminal going on inside the van. A subsequent search led investigators to five “fully loaded trash bags” that held 124 pounds of marijuana in total, worth more than $620,000 on the street. Troopers seized both the van and the drugs in their investigation.
Demorest was arrested and is being held in Baltimore County on a hefty bond of $1 million. He’s been charged with felony marijuana possession and drug kingpin charges, among other offenses. Court records show he’s new to the Baltimore County system, but has served time in his home state for second-degree assault, harassment, carrying a dangerous weapon and violating probation.
His trial date is set for Nov. 18 in Towson.
Ethan McLeod is an associate editor for Baltimore Fishbowl.
