By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A repeat drug offender from Stillwater avoided a trial last week by accepting a plea bargain for a 12-year prison term for trafficking $3,000 worth of methamphetamine and being a convicted felon in possession of a gun — six months after he got out of prison.
Terry Leroy Huffman, 45, who admitted he was guilty of both charges, was sentenced by Payne County Associate District Judge Michael Kulling, court records show.
Huffman was arrested at 5:01 pm on Aug. 10, 2021, following a traffic stop on Highway 33 and Western on a vehicle in which he was a passenger, an affidavit said.
“While Terry was exiting the vehicle, I saw a gun holster protruding from Terry’s waistline. I knew Terry to be a convicted felon,” Stillwater Police Detective Brett Moore wrote in an affidavit.
“The holster was empty, and I asked Terry if he had a gun on his person. Terry stated the gun was in his backpack in the vehicle,” the detective wrote in his affidavit.
After a narcotics dog indicated the vehicle needed to be searched, the detective “immediately located a Springfield XD 40 caliber pistol, chamber and magazine loaded in a black drawstring Under Armour backpack, which was found on the passenger floorboard,” his affidavit said.
That backpack and another backpack contained packaging material, according to the affidavit.
“I continued searching the vehicle and located a locked safe in the trunk compartment of the vehicle. I was unable to locate a key,” the detective wrote in his affidavit.
Stillwater Police Sgt. Greg Savory saw a key hanging from Huffman’s necklace, which matched the safe, the affidavit said.
When the safe was unlocked, it had about eight ounces of methamphetamine with an approximate street value of $3,000, the affidavit said.
According to the state Department of Corrections, Huffman has a 25-year criminal record including prior convictions for:
* possession of a drug with intent to distribute in 1998 in Payne County, for which he was given a five-year prison term in 2004 but only served about half;
* using an offensive weapon in a felony along with possessing a drug and stolen property in 2008 in Payne County, for which he was given concurrent five-year prison terms but served less than two years;
* possession of a drug with intent to distribute in 2012 in Payne and Oklahoma Counties, for which was given concurrent 10-year prison terms but only served about half;
* possession of a drug with intent to distribute in 2016 in Oklahoma County, for which he was given a 12-year prison term but only served about four years and four months before being released in February of 2021.
