Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
WOODS CROSS — A West Valley man appeared in court Wednesday to face drug distribution charges, after police said he and two Wyoming men were arrested last week as part of a SWAT drug bust that turned up thousands of fentanyl pills, cash and guns.
Michael Joe Veazey, 34, who was on pre-sentencing release after pleading guilty to a previous drug charge, was seen in the passenger seat of a Chevy Trailblazer as Salt Lake SWAT officers were conducting a search warrant March 13 in Woods Cross, according to charging documents.
The officers followed the vehicle, driven by 19-year-old James Gage Greene, of Wyoming, to a motel, where police say two men pulled up beside another vehicle and an exchange took place with the other vehicle's driver, Steven Edward Hunt, 34.
Police say they surrounded the two cars, taking the occupants into custody, and reported finding more than $16,000 in cash, a large bag with thousands of fentanyl pills, and guns, including an AR-15 and a stolen handgun, in the cars.
Officers went back to the original residence, and according to court documents, found more pills, heroin, methamphetamine, and eight bags of suspected psilocybin mushrooms within a pancake box in the pantry, and detained the two people found inside. One of the women arrested in the house claimed the house was owned by Fahrija Ceho, police say.
Ceho was arrested two days earlier, separate charging documents indicate, after he was found sleeping in his truck with "drug paraphernalia in plain sight." Officers reported finding "a large amount of oxycodone pills packaged in groups of five in individual baggies," and many more in a safe.
Veazey was on felony pre-sentencing release after pleading guilty to possession of drugs with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony, according to court documents, and had pleaded guilty to firearm and stolen property possession in a different case.
Veazey, who has convictions in Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Florida, told police he had been selling pills for less than a year to support his drug habits, and that it was "stressful," the charging documents say.
He is charged with two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, a first-degree felony; possession of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a restricted person, theft by receiving stolen property, second-degree felonies; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
Hunt, 34, told police that he drove down from Wyoming, and was sick from narcotics withdrawals after not using for two days. Police say Hunt also admitted he was about to smoke the drugs he was given, before driving back to Wyoming under the influence, the charges state.
He was charged with three counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; possession of controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanor.
Greene has been charged with the distribution of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony; possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
