A Lady Lake man was arrested on drug charges when an officer parked at 7-Eleven recognized his truck from prior narcotics sales.
An officer patrolling 7-Eleven, located at 2058 U.S. Hwy. 27/441, noticed 48-year-old Jason Cory Franks park an orange Ford F-150 at the fuel island around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department. He had seen this vehicle at multiple places known to be prevalent with the use and distribution of narcotics.
About 10 to 15 minutes before, he watched one of the employees come out of the gas station and talk to Franks for several minutes. The employee then went back inside and did not come out again. The truck eventually left, during which it did not completely stop at a stop sign before pulling onto Eagles Nest Road, the report said.
The officer also saw the truck straddle the eastbound lane and the westbound turn lane, putting the double yellow stripped line under the middle of the vehicle. As the truck turned onto U.S. Hwy. 27/441, the officer turned on his emergency lights for a traffic stop. The vehicle made a U-turn but eventually stopped near Lake Ella Road, the report said.
A K-9 unit came to the scene and asked Franks to get out of the vehicle. He shuffled around for a few seconds, and as the door opened, the officers saw a cut plastic straw in the middle of the floorboard where his feet were. Franks ultimately denied having anything illegal in his truck and did not give his consent for it to be searched, the report said.
However, the K-9 unit sniffed around the outside of the vehicle and alerted to the odor of narcotics. The officers subsequently searched the vehicle and started with the straw. Closer inspection revealed it was burnt with residue on one end, confirming narcotics usage, the report said.
The officers also found a loaded syringe of suspected blood in the driver’s door pocket. One of the cupholders in the center console had a piece of foil containing possible burnt fentanyl. On the driver’s side backseat was a blue notebook with a page in the middle that had been ripped out and folded in half, the report said.
The page had writing such as “$50 per gram,” “$150 per ball” and “$250 owed to Shane.” The officers believed this was a ledger of some sort that detailed narcotics sales, the report said.
There was also a backpack in the backseat which contained a ballpoint pen that seemed to have been used as a makeshift smoking device due to it having burnt residue. There was a folded piece of foil with pink powder believed to be fentanyl, as well, the report said.
Directly behind the center console was an Ulta makeup container with white powder suspected of being fentanyl. The report noted the container looked like it had been cleaned out, and the powder inside was not its original contents, the report said.
The officers proceeded to question Franks about the ledger, and he stated he had never seen it before. He also said, “The notebook isn’t even mine.” They had not mentioned the notebook, and it was not near Franks during the conversation. He still denied being in possession of anything illegal and stated he had just dropped off several of his employees, the report said.
Franks was arrested on charges of possession of fentanyl and drug paraphernalia. He was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting $6,000 bond.
The native of Vermont was also one of two arrested in March during a traffic stop where methamphetamine was found poured into a Dr. Pepper can.