Johnny Mendez Sr
(PCSD file photo)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 67-year-old Cushing man avoided a jury trial today by accepting a plea bargain in which a charge of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute was dropped before he admitted being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and also having drug paraphernalia.
Johnny Adam Mendez Sr. “is pleading guilty to avoid the risk of a greater sentence,” defense attorney Royce Hobbs said in court last week.
In accordance with a recommendation from Assistant District Attorney Debra Vincent, Mendez was sentenced on June 18 by Associate District Judge Michael Kulling to five years of probation, with an order to undergo random drug testing, provide a DNA sample, and pay a $500 fine along with a $960 prosecution fee.
The father, his 42-year-old son, and a 43-year-old woman were arrested last September by Cushing police after a search warrant was served at their residence in the 500 block of E. Cherry Street, about 500 feet north of Memorial Park in Cushing, court records show.
Cushing Police Officer David Smith had obtained a search warrant for their residence after a traffic stop in which an individual “admitted to buying methamphetamine from Chelsea Kendrick,” an affidavit alleged.
Chelsea Michelle Kendrick, who said she had been living at the residence for about three years, pleaded guilty last December before Judge Kulling to possessing methamphetamine and marijuana with intent to distribute, for which she was given a one-year jail term followed by six years of probation.
For possessing a firearm after a former felony drug conviction, Kendrick was given a concurrent jail term followed by nine years of probation; she was also given a concurrent jail term for possessing drug paraphernalia.
As probation conditions, Kendrick was ordered to undergo random drug tests, have a substance abuse evaluation, take any recommended treatment, perform 100 hours of community service, maintain employment, comply with methamphetamine registration requirements, and pay a $700 assessment, court records show.
Johnny Adam Mendez Jr., who remains jailed, has been ordered to appear in court before District Judge Phillip Corley on July 26 for a pre-trial hearing on his charges of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and having drug paraphernalia, court records show.
In addition to methamphetamine and guns, Cushing police found in the residence a birthday card containing a THC product addressed to the woman’s son, the affidavit alleged. “She advised me that her son’s birthday was very recent and that he has chronic headaches,” Officer Smith wrote in his affidavit.
