Three arrested for drug violations
Published 4:47 pm Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Three people were arrested by the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department for possessing methamphetamine.
On May 17, investigators with the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department and Mississippi Department of Corrections went to the home of 39-year-old Kent Leroy Smith, located at 62 Blue Bird Road to serve a probation violation warrant, said Sheriff David Allison.
As they were traveling to that home, they saw Smith pulling into the driveway of another home. The team of law enforcement officers stopped and took him into custody as he exited his vehicle. A search of his person found a distribution amount of methamphetamine and a distribution amount of heroin, Allison said.
The find led to his additional arrest for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of heroin with intent to distribute, Allison said.
Another case that took place on May 27, resulted in the arrest of 51-year-old Mark Van Slyke. Allison said that on that day, investigators observed Van Slyke driving a vehicle. Since the investigators knew his license had been suspended, a stop was conducted.
As the investigators approached the vehicle, methamphetamine was seen in plain sight inside the vehicle, Allison said.
After asking Van Slyke and his passenger, 68-year-old Samuel Geraldson, of 1059 Thomas School Rd., Poplarville to exit the vehicle, a search of the vehicle was conducted where a distribution amount of methamphetamine was recovered from the area where Van Slyke was sitting, Allison said. Additionally, a small amount of methamphetamine was recovered from the area where Geraldson was seated.
Van Slyke, of 610 Springhill Rd., Poplarville, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and Geraldson was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, Allison said.