Seat Belt Violation Leads To Marijuana Distribution Charges

Photo courtesy of Chris Zupancic, FlickR

LAKEHURST – And the moral of this story is, if you are carrying still-illegal drugs in your car, at least wear your seatbelt.

James M. Moriarty Jr., 34, of Forked River, learned this the hard way.

He was stopped around 2:51 p.m. Oct. 2 when officers Harold Hester and Jason Guide saw him driving his silver minivan without a seatbelt, and with a crack in the windshield. The officers stopped him and an on-scene search revealed Moriarty was carrying individually packaged cartridges containing suspected Cannabidiol, a vape pen containing suspected Tetrahydrocannabinol.

He was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of under 50 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also issued three motor vehicle summonses for possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle, failure to wear seat belt and obstruction of view.

He was released pending a mandatory appearance in Ocean County Superior Court.