A 63-year-old Mountain View man faces numerous drug and firearm charges after a traffic stop in Hilo.
On Tuesday, officers conducted a traffic stop on a pickup truck on Derby Lane in Hilo. Vice detectives executed a search warrant on the truck, driven by Gregory Cook, and found 27.9 grams of heroin, 27.9 grams of methamphetamine, 5.9 grams of marijuana, 4 acetaminophen-codeine phosphate pills, and numerous drug paraphernalia items associated with the sale and distribution of narcotics, police said.
According to police, detectives also confiscated a loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun and a metal expandable baton.
On Wednesday, after conferring with prosecutors, Cook was charged with two counts of second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, two counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, marijuana possession, fourth-degree promotion of a harmful drug, prohibited possession of a deadly weapon, carrying or possessing a loaded firearm on a public roadway, illegally carrying a firearm and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Also seized for possible forfeiture was $4,259 and the 2005 Mazda pickup that Cook was driving, police said.
At Cook’s initial court appearance Friday, Hilo District Judge Kanani Laubach maintained Cook’s bail at $158,000 and ordered him to return for a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Cook was on probation at the time of arrest, having pleaded no contest on Nov. 8, 2017, to two counts of second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and a single counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.
The plea deal was in connection to a bust on Aug. 1, 2016, at Cook’s Fern Acres home.
Officers executing a search warrant found 364 grams of heroin, 8.1 grams of dried, processed marijuana, 1.4 grams of methamphetamine, 15 grams of cocaine plus Fentanyl patches.
In return for his plea in that case, prosecutors dropped a first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug charge, a Class A felony which carries a potential 20-year prison term upon conviction.
The most serious charges Cook faces in the current case, second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm on a public roadway are Class B felonies carrying a maximum 10-year prison term upon conviction.
