HUTCHINSON, Kan. — One of two people arrested on drug distribution charges is scheduled to be in court this afternoon over a motion to suppress.
29-year-old John Paul Zapata-Beltran and 27-year-old Amy Ann Fisher both face trial in the drug distribution case.
Both are charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia all with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school. Other charges include possession of prescription drugs, no drug tax stamp and a new count of aggravated endangerment of a child. Zapata-Beltran is also charged with criminal possession of a firearm.
He’s seeking to have some of the evidence suppressed, mainly questioning the affidavit presented to a judge to authorize the search.
The case itself begins with a search being served on a home in the Careyville neighborhood of Hutchinson as well as a Jaguar where drugs and a Taurus 9 mm handgun were allegedly found. The home is within a thousand feet of a Reno County Head Start.
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 and inside one them was 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 May of last year.