MARIJUANA DEALER RECEIVES MAXIMUM SENTENCE
DATE: February 24, 2022
(Bel Air, Maryland) – Albert J. Peisinger, Jr., State’s Attorney for Harford County, has announced the conviction of John Williams Powell Mayo, 38, of Richmond, Virginia, for possession of a large amount of marijuana, which in this case was approximately 100 pounds.
On August 5, 2021, an officer with the Maryland Transportation Authority Police conducted a traffic stop on a 2008 Honda Odyssey bearing a Virginia registration. The sole occupant and operator of the vehicle was John Williams Powell Mayo. Based upon observations by the officer, he requested that a canine unit respond to the location so that a scan of the vehicle could be conducted. Due to the alert by the canine, a search of the vehicle was conducted.
Recovered from the vehicle in the rear of the driver’s seat was a backpack which contained a mason jar filled with greenish brown leafy substance, suspected marijuana. In addition, there were two glass smoking devices containing trace amounts of suspected marijuana, a metal grinder containing a greenish brown leafy substance, suspected marijuana, wax rolling papers, and a small glass bottle containing a yellow in color wax substance, suspected THC wax. These items were located near two prescription bottles with Mr. Mayo’s name on them.
In the rear cargo area, three large duffel bags were located which contained a total of one hundred heat sealed bags containing a large amount of greenish brown leafy substance, suspected marijuana which weighed approximately one hundred pounds.
A subsequent analysis of the recovered substances found in Mr. Mayo’s vehicle was determined to be marijuana.
On February 23, 2022, the Honorable Diane Adkins-Tobin imposed a total sentence of five years without the possibility of parole to be served at the Division of Corrections, which is the maximum sentence for this offense.
“Although the current desire in the Maryland Legislature this session is to legalize marijuana, this case is a clear example to those legislators of the sheer amount that offenders will attempt to import and sell in our communities,” said Harford County State’s Attorney Albert J. Peisinger, Jr. “I will continue to uphold my oath and work with our law enforcement partners to hold offenders accountable for all of our state drug laws.”
Mr. Peisinger thanked Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Jaskulski-Tripp who prosecuted this matter and commended the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and their Canine Unit, for their exceptional work and dedication in this investigation which resulted in the arrest and conviction of John Williams Powell Mayo.