Athens Man Charged with Intent to Sell Marijuana

An Athens man was arrested in Oconee County on Thursday after deputies say they found 25 individual bags of marijuana stuffed in his clothes.

The search stemmed from a traffic stop on US 78 around 10 a.m. and Pete Dickens Road initiated by a patrol deputy who noticed a passenger of a burgundy colored Chevy Beretta wasn't wearing a seat belt, according to an incident report.

As the deputy approached the passenger's side to speak with the occupants, he says he noticed an odor of green marijuana. A female passenger was issued a warning about the seat belt.

The driver was asked to step out of the car while his information was being checked, and the man gave consent for deputies to search the vehicle as well as his person, the report states.

The man denied having narcotics, but deputies report finding a clear plastic bag containing marijuana in the man's coat pocket.  They also say they found a larger bag of marijuana in the man's front jean pants' pocket that "was wrapped in 'corner bags' as for individual sale, there were approximately twenty-five individual packages," according to the report.

Also in the man's possession, the deputy says, was a digital scale and quantity of cash.  The woman told deputies that a small bag of marijuana found inside her purse also belonged to the man, a story the man corroborated, according to the report, so the woman was allowed to leave in the car which had a child inside.

Andrew Lee Ellison was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.  As of Friday afternoon, he remained behind bars at the Oconee County Jail.

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