HUTCHINSON, Kan. — After an earlier continuance was granted, we’ll learn Thursday if the hearing for a man and woman arrested on drug distribution charges will be held. District Judge Joe McCarville reset the hearing for 29-year-old John Paul Zapata-Beltran and 27-year-old Amy Ann Fisher.
Both are charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of prescription drugs, all with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school. Other charges include possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute and no drug tax stamp. Zapata-Beltran is also charged with criminal possession of a firearm.
This is over a search being served on a Hutchinson home and vehicle where drugs and a firearm were found. The home is within a thousand feet of a school.
The case started with the Reno County Drug Unit serving a search of a home. In the master bedroom, they allege that they found green residue wrapped in tin foil and an empty digital scale box. On top of a dryer, officers found two burnt marijuana cigarettes and, inside a bathroom, officers found a small baggie of suspected methamphetamine.
In the trunk of a 2003 Jaguar sitting on a trailer, they allegedly found two backpacks. Inside the orange one, they say they found a small lock box with some prescription drugs, new packaging materials, $10,000 in cash and a Taurus 9mm handgun with a loaded magazine and two holsters. In the front pocket of the backpack were two digital scales. In the other backpack, they allegedly found more drugs, including 14.5 grams of methamphetamine and several bags of suspected marijuana weighing about 340 grams.
The arrest of the two occurred back in June.