Jury finds man guilty of meth possession after 20 minutes of deliberation

February 9, 2024

Cabrero

Jury finds man guilty of meth possession after 20 minutes of deliberation

HART — It took a jury just 20 minutes Thursday, Feb. 8, to reach a guilty verdict for a 52-year-old man on trial for a felony of methamphetamine possession.

Juan Cabrero will be sentenced, March 18.

“This was a relatively short trial that was tried in one day,” said Oceana County Prosecutor Joseph Bizon. “The jury deliberated for approximately 20 minutes before finding the defendant guilty of possession of methamphetamine.”

Cabrero was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office April 20, 2022, and the driver was arrested on outstanding warrants, said Bizon. “Police had no reason to hold Cabrero — he was allowed to leave the scene. During the inventory search of the vehicle — it was being towed, police discovered methamphetamine near the passenger seat and in a pair of jeans that were at Cabrero’s feet that also had his name on them. There were two separate baggies — one contained about a gram, and the other contained less than a gram.

“It took a short period of time to identify the defendant. He refused to give identification at the scene — as is his right — and some time for the lab test of the drugs. He was arrested in August of 2022.

“Possession of methamphetamine is punishable by up to 10 years, but all defendants’ sentences are determined in large part by sentencing guidelines.

“As always I am so very grateful to my staff for all their hard work and getting the cases ready,” said the prosecutor. “I am very fortunate to be blessed with working with the absolute best circuit court administrator, Tonya Selig. She and her staff are always able to get the court ready and moving like clockwork. On this case, I need to express thanks to the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Cam Hanson and Deputy Jeff Soraruf. There were little things done in this case that made a large difference. Also my family for their continued support. I cannot do this without them.”

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