An all-night road trip from Philadelphia to State College ended for two men Saturday morning after a State College police officer pulled them over after blowing a red light -- and found more than half a pound of marijuana in the trunk of their car, police said.
Milton Forkpa, 20, of Bensalem, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy, according to the criminal complaint.
Daniel Reese, 18, of Feasterville, faces the same charges with an added count of running a flashing signal, according to the complaint.
Reese's silver Saturn was pulled over shortly after 4 a.m. when he drove through a blinking red light at the corner of University Drive and Park Avenue without stopping, police said.
The investigating officer said he smelled a strong odor of burning marijuana. Police searched the vehicle and found a cellophane wrapper containing marijuana, a plastic baggie containing marijuana seeds, three marijuana cigarette butts, an electronic scale with marijuana residue, several empty plastic baggies and $260 in cash, according to the complaint.
Forkpa told the officer nothing in the car was his, police said. Upon searching the trunk, the officer found a black backpack containing three bags of marijuana, a marijuana smoking pipe and documents for a magisterial district judge payment order made out in Forkpa's name.
Both men work at the Sonic restaurant in Bensalem, Reese said during questioning. Forkpa offered him $100 to drive him up to State College, Reese said, according to police.
Reese hid the backpack in the trunk -- he knew it contained marijuana, he said -- and bought zipper baggies because he knew Forkpa would need them to package the drug into smaller quantities, according to the complaint.
Forkpa told him he was transporting about half a pound of marijuana, Reese told police, according to the complaint.
Under questioning, Forkpa said the bag belonged to him, but said he had no idea how the marijuana came to be in it, according to the criminal complaint.
Forkpa was taken to Centre County Correctional Facility in lieu of $15,000 bail; Reese was released on $25,000 unsecured bail. The two men go before court Wednesday for their preliminary hearings.
