By Patti Weaver

 

  (Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing man, who admitted being a felon in possession of a .22 caliber pistol along with having methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia while driving on a suspended license, was given a five-year prison term Tuesday by Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler for the gun violation with an order to pay a $1,000 fine and $306 in restitution.
    As part of a plea agreement with the prosecution, a count alleging that the gun had been stolen, was dropped Tuesday against Johnathan Michael Watkins, 41, who had gotten out of prison four years ago. Watkins, who was ordered to comply with the methamphetamine registry, was given concurrent one-year jail terms for misdemeanor counts of possessing drugs along with drug paraphernalia and driving under suspension.
    Watkins had been arrested at 1:54 am on April 30 following a traffic stop, according to an affidavit by Cushing Police Officer Garvis Scott Thomas.
    “I asked if Watkins had a driver’s license and he advised he did not. It should also be noted officers received information in the past that Watkins typically carried a small handgun in his waistband,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
    “While searching Watkins, Officer Smith noticed in plain view a silver in color handgun under the seat Watkins was sitting in. Watkins advised he did not know anything about the gun, but did confirm he was a convicted felon,” the affidavit said.
    The gun, which did not have a magazine, but a single round chambered, had been reported as stolen in Cushing on Aug. 24, 2021, the affidavit alleged.
    In the truck stuffed between the driver seat and middle seat, the officer found two bags of a white substance that field-tested as methamphetamine, the affidavit said.
    Inside the center console, a black bag had seven syringes, another bag of a white substance, a digital scale with the same powder substance, a spoon with burnt marks and 52 empty 2×3 bags, items commonly associated with the sales and distribution of narcotics, the affidavit said.
    “Watkins advised he knew nothing about the drugs or firearm,” the affidavit said.
    According to Payne County court records and the state Department of Corrections, Watkins had previously been convicted of second-degree burglary in Cushing in 2009 for which he was placed on three years of probation.
    Four years later, Watkins was charged with possessing a drug within 1,000 feet of a school and also marijuana as a subsequent offense, for which he was placed on 10 years of probation in 2014. However, 11 months later he was found in violation of that, given two concurrent five-year prison terms and released from prison in March of 2018, DOC records show.