Two Atlanta men were arrested on drug charges on July 20 following a traffic stop on I-20 near milepost 138.
LaWalter Tommy Henderson, 40, and Eric Demarcus Standifer, 31, face cocaine trafficking charges. Standifer was also cited for a seatbelt violation which caused a deputy to make the traffic stop in the first place.
According to reports, Lt. Patrick Paquette saw a silver Acura traveling eastbound on I-20 and neither of the occupants appeared to be wearing seatbelts.
Paquette conducted a traffic stop and made contact with Standifer, the driver. According to Paquette’s account, Henderson, the passenger, had his seatbelt tucked under his arm and Standifer had moved his seatbelt from behind his body to across his body.
According to the report, Standifer’s hand was shaking when he handed Paquette his driver’s license and registration.
Paquette asked Standifer to get out of the car and join him at the rear of the vehicle.
Standifer told Paquette he was headed to Augusta to drop off his cousin, who lives there.
Standifer also said there were no guns or drugs in the car during the course of the conversation.
Henderson also told Paquette the destination was Augusta but said he did not live there. The trip was to visit his aunt.
Paquette was then given permission by Standifer to search the car according to the report. But when Paquette opened the car door and leaned in the vehicle, he smelled burnt marijuana, which changed the nature of the search from a consent search to a probable cause search.
Paquette found a book bag containing a gallon-size Ziploc bag containing marijuana residue and also several packages of rolling papers in the center console.
Paquette opened the trunk and lifted the carpet to access the spare tire area and found a brown cloth, which turned out to be a pillow case, underneath the spare tire.
Inside the pillowcase, Paquette found two vacuum-sealed packages containing a substance that was field tested and found to be cocaine.
Paquette placed both subjects under arrest and they were transported to the jail by Deputy Sierra. Cell phones belonging to Standifer and Henderson were seized pending a warrant for data extraction.