Las Vegas "farmer" arrested for possession

A Las Vegas man faces possession charges after his story about traveling to Blackhawk to become a farmer raised suspicions for a Crook County Sheriff’s Office Deputy.

According to court reports, at around 4:30 p.m. on August 6, the deputy observed a vehicle parked in a driveway with two adult males inside. He stopped to check that they were not in need of any assistance.

The two men, including Matthew Cobb of Nevada, allegedly stated that they were eating and had a burger and pizza with them. They claimed to be traveling to Blackhawk, SD, to farm.

According to the deputy’s report, he enquired about the farming and was told that neither had any experience doing so or knew what they were going to farm.

The deputy reports that he grew suspicious of this account due to the lack of experience and because Blackhawk was not known to him to be a farming community. However, as no illicit items were in view and there were no odors associated with banned substances, he returned to his patrol vehicle and they drove away.

As they did so, the deputy reports asking dispatch to run the registration, which came back as registered to a different vehicle than the one he observed.

The deputy conducted a traffic stop on I-90 and asked for driver’s license and vehicle information. The driver, Matthew Cobb, allegedly did not have proof of ownership or valid insurance; he was also found to have no valid driver’s license.

A K-9 unit arrived to sniff the vehicle, which resulted in a positive alert. The two occupants were removed from the vehicle to investigate the alert.

Both allegedly admitted to possession of a controlled substance: the passenger to marijuana and Cobb to methamphetamine in the fuse box under the hood of the vehicle.

A probable cause search located both items, as well as pipes and smoking devices. The vehicle was towed to the shop and a search warrant was obtained to complete the search of the vehicle.

The methamphetamine was found to weigh a total of 20.6 grams and the marijuana weighed 11.4 grams.

Cobb has been charged with possession of methamphetamine, a felony carrying a maximum penalty of seven years of incarceration, a $15,000 fine or both, and possession of marijuana, a felony carrying a maximum penalty of five years of incarceration, a $5000 fine or both.

Cobb has two prior known convictions for possession in California in 2012 and 2014.