Sierra R. Malady, 20, of Catawissa, has been charged with felony possession of marijuana after initially being issued a citation and released at the scene near Chamois. Cpl. Vince VanderFeltz initially cited Malady for possession of fewer than 35 grams but upon weighing the marijuana seized at the scene, he found the total weight to be 39.7 grams.
It began March 15 at approximately 7:40 p.m. when VanderFeltz saw a green Ford F-150 pickup with Illinois registration traveling in the opposite direction on Rt. FF near Chamois.
The vehicle seemed out of place for the area of the county he was patrolling, VanderFeltz wrote in his probable cause statement, so he turned around and followed the vehicle.
As he followed the truck, VanderFeltz observed the three occupants were constantly moving around inside the cab, prompting a traffic stop on CR 274A at Hwy. 89 North.
The driver was identified as Malady, and passengers were identified as Gabrielle Brochu and Jessie Chitwood. None had warrants.
VanderFeltz smelled an abnormal odor emitting from the cab, and when asked Malady what the smell was, she said she works on a local hemp farm and had some hemp products in the truck.
At this point, Malady agreed to a consent to a search of the vehicle, Brochu said she had a pistol in her purse. Brochu told VanderFeltz they had just left from where they were practicing with the pistol.
During his search of the truck, VanderFeltz found a large pile of clothes, with a glass water pipe (bong) wrapped up in some of them. He observed there was some partially burnt green leafy material in the bowl. Malady said she used the bong to smoke hemp. VanderFeltz replied that he believed she used it to smoke marijuana and believed he would find more in her vehicle. Malady admitted there were marijuana and another bong in her truck. She told the deputy there was a bong and a baggie of marijuana in the back seat of the truck, and a plastic box with marijuana on the front seat.
VanderFeltz located the rest of the items exactly where Malady said they would be and seized them as evidence. The plastic box on the front seat of the truck contained additional marijuana and two grinders. He also located a SIG Sauer P226 pistol in Brochu’s purse, which was not on file as stolen. Brochu and Chitwood admitted knowing there was marijuana in the truck but said they were not in possession nor owned it. Malady confirmed that all the marijuana and paraphernalia belonged to her.