GREENFIELD — Shawn Barbour, 30, and Katie Weston, 21, both of Thetford, Vt., were arraigned in Greenfield District Court Friday after a traffic stop in Bernardston revealed cocaine, knives and marijuana in their vehicle.
According to a report written by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Anthony Lavigne of the Shelburne Falls barracks, the stop occurred at 12:45 a.m. Friday. Lavigne was parked in the breakdown lane on Interstate 91 when a silver Acura Integra with a loud exhaust drove past. Lavigne stopped the vehicle due to the exhaust.
Barbour, the driver, produced a Massachusetts registration and Connecticut driver’s license, though the vehicle had Vermont plates. Barbour said the vehicle was originally purchased in Massachusetts, explaining the registration, and claimed he didn’t know he needed to get a Vermont license.
Lavigne wrote in the report that Barbour seemed very nervous, unusually polite and smoked a lot of cigarettes during the stop, while Weston, the passenger, refused to look at him.
During a background check on Barbour, Lavigne found past incidents of possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. Given this information and the two individuals’ behavior, Lavigne decided to investigate further and requested Trooper Jesse Gadarowski’s assistance.
The two were removed from the vehicle and frisked. The troopers questioned the individuals separately about their trip, as they were traveling from Connecticut to Vermont, and they provided very different accounts of their whereabouts.
Barbour admitted to having a knife in the driver’s side door. Police discovered said knife, as well as a two more knives under the driver’s seat and driver’s side floor mat. Two prison-style shanks were under the floor mat, according to the report, and a box of 30-caliber ammunition was under the passenger seat.
Barbour and Weston were both cuffed and placed in a cruiser. In the trunk, police found four plastic bags with a small amount of marijuana, a plastic bag with 15 grams of white powder police determined to be cocaine, and two small scales covered in white powder. The items were hidden inside shoes.
In response, Barbour said he owed $10,000 to a Connecticut gang and he was doing work for them moving drugs to pay off his debt. According to the report, Barbour said he “was a dead man for being caught” and admitted the only reason he and Weston went to Connecticut was to pick up cocaine.
Barbour and Weston were placed under arrest and taken to the Shelburne Falls barracks. Both were arraigned on charges of possession with intent to distribute a Class B drug, conspiracy to violate drug laws and possession of ammunition without a firearms identification (FID) card. Barbour was also charged with excessive noise and carrying dangerous weapons.
Barbour’s bail was set in court at $500, which he has been unable to post. Weston was released and advised of the potential for bail revocation. They are to return to court for a pretrial conference Nov. 3.