Boardman man charged with drug trafficking after traffic stop

BOARDMAN — A traffic stop turned into a drug bust Saturday afternoon.

James McKenna, 18 of Southwoods Ave., was charged with trafficking in marijuana, a fifth degree felony, and misdemeanor driving under suspension. He is due at Mahoning County Court 2 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on the charges.

That same report showed police saw McKenna driving on Southern Boulevard on Saturday at about 4:49 p.m. and the officer discovered he was under a drug offense suspension through Boardman court.

After stopping McKenna's vehicle, he admitted to police that he had a half ounce of marijuana in a backpack. Inside of McKenna's backpack, police found the following: 22 grams of suspected marijuana, two plastic bags with suspected marijuana residue in the corners, and $464 in cash.  A small digital scale, two boxes of Zig-Zag rolling papers, and two cell phones were found within the car.

McKenna told police that he sells "mostly to his friends" and to support his own habit during the booking process, according to the report on the incident.

His bond was set at $2,500 and according to Mahoning County Sheriff's website, McKenna bonded out Saturday.