New drug dog earning his keep

The officer pulled Cortes O’Neil Brown, 31, of 34 M&M Road, Kingstree, SC, over for the window tent and became suspicious that he was carrying contraband. The officer summoned Roscoe.

After the dog “alerted” on the passenger side, Brown allegedly admitted to having smoked marijuana just before being pulled over.

Inside a duffel bag on the passenger--side floor, officers found a smaller “leopard-skin” bag containing multiple bundles of U.S. currency — including 56 bundles of $1,000 apiece, the report said.

They asked if the money was Brown’s. He said no. Did he know whose it was? Brown said no.

Eventually, Brown claimed he was visiting his sister, went to a party and someone asked him to deliver the bag — without looking into it — to Atlanta. He’d received a call shortly before being stopped, he said, instructing him to take it to Jimmy Carter Boulevard.
The officer noted that Brown’s cell phone rang repeatedly as officers interviewed him.

Upon questioning, Brown admitted to a rather checkered past that included prison time for robbery, a conviction for selling marijuana and an arrest — but no conviction — for selling cocaine.

The officers recovered $58,071 from the bag and another $13,110 in cash from Brown’s pocket, for a total haul of $71,181.

Brown was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after officers found a .9 mm handgun under the driver’s seat.
The city will file to confiscate the cash.