California man given suspended sentence on drug possession charges

A California man has received a suspended sentence after a wide range of controlled substances were discovered scattered throughout the vehicle in which he was a passenger.

On July 10, a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper was patrolling I-90 near mile marker 187 when a white van approached at a speed radar recorded as 96 mph. The trooper conducted a traffic stop.

While looking around the interior of the van, the trooper reports observing a vape pen with a cartridge he recognized as similar to THC cartridges. The trooper was given permission to retrieve and identify it by the driver and reports the glass cartridge was indeed labeled THC.

During the interaction, the trooper states in his affidavit that he observed a male lying on the floor in the cargo area of the vehicle. When asked, the driver allegedly said he was giving him a ride to Minnesota or Missouri, but couldn’t remember which.

The passenger identified himself as John Skaalerud of California.

The driver claimed Skaalerud was moving to Minnesota and his daughter had moved into Skaalerud’s old house. Both the driver and Skaalerud were instructed to exit the vehicle, frisk searched and placed in the patrol vehicle of a second trooper.

The trooper conducted a probable cause search and located a box with several prescription pill bottles, a vape pen with a suspected THC cartridge, a bottle containing suspected marijuana, a brown paper bag containing suspected marijuana buds, three vape pen cartridges allegedly containing THC, a glass pipe with the burnt residue of suspected marijuana, a brown paper bag with nine “nug cones” inside and two more THC vape cartridges, a clear glass pipe with white residue, a clear bag containing a green leaf bud and shake of suspected marijuana, a plastic cylinder containing several clear baggies, with the top one containing a nugget of suspected methamphetamine and the other two containing ground white crystal powder and a water bong containing suspected marijuana residue.

Skaalerud allegedly claimed ownership of both THC vape pens and the marijuana in the box of prescription medications, as well as the brown bag. He allegedly denied any knowledge of the meth pipe or meth and stated a test would reveal he had not used anything but marijuana.

Skaalerud pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance. Judge Thomas W. Rumpke sentenced him to 12 months of incarceration in the Crook County Detention Center, with credit for five days served.

The sentence is suspended pending successful completion of 360 days of unsupervised probation.