Cops find 36 pills, more than 2k in cash, during traffic stop

YOUNGSTOWN

A man free on bond for drug charges was arrested Sunday after police said they found drugs inside his car.

Jimmy A. Figueroa, 20, is in the Mahoning County jail on charges of driving under suspension, illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of possession of drugs after he was pulled over at Mahoning and Evanston avenues about 12:55 p.m. Sunday.

He is expected to be arraigned in municipal court today.

Reports said officers pulled over Figueroa because they know he has several open suspensions on his license and should not be driving. He has had at least five suspensions on his license in the last three years, reports said.

When Figueroa was pulled over, he smelled like raw marijuana, reports said. After he was taken into custody on the suspended license, his car was searched. In the front seat police found a bottle with 30 pills inside and a suboxone strip, reports said.

In the back of the car police found six more pills and a digital scale. When Figueroa was searched officers found $2,256 in cash, reports said.

Figueroa has pending charges in Common Pleas Çourt of possession of heroin and possession of drugs stemming from an April 31 arrest at a home in the 200 block of Bouquet Avenue as the vice squad was serving a search warrant investigating drug activity.

During that raid, reports said officers found a box of .40-caliber ammunition, a bag of heroin and more than $4,300 in cash.

Figueroa was indicted by a grand jury and released after posting a $15,000 bond in that case, according to court records. He has a suppression hearing in that case scheduled for Oct. 15, according to court records.