Two Arrested For Pot Within 1,000 Feet Of A Church

A Sebring woman remained in jail Tuesday on a $20,000 bond, while an Orlando man was out on a $5,500 bond following their Sunday arrest on drug charges.

Ginger Maria Paul, 20, of 604 Denise Ave., Sebring, and Boysie Jones, 27, of Orlando, were both charged with selling marijuana within 1,000 feet of a church or business and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sebring police officers were in the 700 block of Lemon Avenue Sunday and saw a green Lincoln car begin to back out of a parking space in the municipal parking lot before pulling back in and parking, according to the arrest report.

Jones, the driver, got out of the car and walked eastbound on the sidewalk next to Lemon Avenue. A few minutes later, Paul got out of the car and also headed eastbound.

An officer approached the still-running vehicle to see if anyone was still inside, the report stated. No one was in there and, while looking inside, the officer reportedly smelled burnt marijuana from inside the car.

The officer opened the door and started looking for cannabis. A shoe box was allegedly discovered, which had several grams of loose marijuana inside.

Law enforcement also reportedly found a medium-sized bag in the center console containing 42 grams of marijuana, as well as 10 smaller blue baggies that are said to be used to package cannabis for resale, the report stated.

Jones came back to the vehicle as officers were searching it and was placed under arrest on the aforementioned charges, as the church in question was the First Missionary Baptist Church of Sebring, at 662 Lemon Ave.

The suspect "spontaneously" told authorities the weed was not his, that it belonged to Paul, the report stated.

Paul was found in a grocery store next to the parking lot and arrested on the same charges. She kept telling police that the marijuana was Jones' and that he had tried to sell it to some unidentified parties.

These individuals were contacted and denied knowing what the officers were talking about, as well as saying no one tried to sell them marijuana, the report stated.

SPD Officer Ryan Magnuson made the arrest.