Buckhannon man arrested for felony meth possession following traffic stop

Monica Zalaznik
August 10, 2021

BUCKHANNON – A Buckhannon man was arrested Saturday for allegedly possessing several bags of methamphetamine, scales and needles.

Khori Simmons, 26, was arrested for possession with intent to deliver, a felony, after the vehicle he was riding in was pulled over for an alleged seatbelt violation.

According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Patrolman D.S. Kraemer with the Buckhannon Police Department, on Saturday, Aug. 7 when Kraemer was on routine patrol, he initiated a traffic stop on a gray Chevy Malibu for a seatbelt violation. Upon making contact with the occupants, he received IDs from the driver, the front-seat passenger, a back-seat passenger and Simmons, who was also seated in the back.

Kraemer, Sgt. William Courtney and Sgt. Darin Hissam asked the occupants to exit the vehicle so they could speak with them. The front-seat passenger told the officers there was a firearm in the center console, and police retrieved it. Upon opening the front passenger door, police located a clear plastic bag with a red heart design that contained a crystal-like substance consistent with the appearance and texture of methamphetamine, which the front-seat passenger later claimed, the file says.

A probable cause search of the vehicle was then conducted and during the search, officers found a small plastic bag with the same heart design containing a crystal-like substance in a wallet reportedly belonging to Simmons, the file says. Similar bags were also discovered in the back seat’s foldout cupholder and the passenger seat. Officers also located a black-and-red zipper case containing a scale, needles and several smaller, clear bags with the same heart design containing the crystal-like substance next to Simmons’s wallet, the report states.

According to the complaint, Simmons allegedly admitted to possessing the small bag in his wallet weighing 0.7 grams, the bag in the cupholder weighing 1 gram and the bag behind the passenger seat weighing 14 grams. He also allegedly admitted to owning the black-and-red case.

Bail was set at $65,000 cash or surety by Upshur County Magistrate Clerk Alan Suder.

The penalty for a conviction of possession with intent to deliver is confinement in the state penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than 15 years, a fine of not more than $25,000 or both.