Philly Man with a “Shamokin Girlfriend” Arrested in Minersville with 8 Ounces of Weed

A Philadelphia man is facing drug trafficking charges after police arrested him during a traffic stop last month.

According to court papers filed by police in Minersville, they pulled over Sean Diep, of Philadelphia back on Feb. 14, just before 11 p.m. on Sunbury St.

Patrolman Ethan Powell says in his affidavit that he saw Diep’s vehicle rolling by him with deeply tinted windows. Powell says he was in his patrol vehicle with the lights on at the Minersville municipal parking lot at the time.

After pulling out of his parking spot, Powell got behind Diep’s vehicle and ran his registration information. Apparently nothing was out of sort with that but Powell noticed the driver side rear taillight housing was cracked. Both taillight housings were tinted, also, according to Powell’s sworn statement.

Powell decided to pull Diep over for these violations. While he was communicating with Schuylkill County emergency dispatchers, Powell said he could see Diep fussing with something on the passenger side of the vehicle. He said it looked like Diep was getting or putting something under the passenger front seat of the vehicle.

As he approached Diep, Powell said he saw a bag filled with cash on the back seat. Powell also said he got a good whiff of “raw marijuana” and noticed “multiple lighters and marijuana residue” in plain view inside Diep’s vehicle.

Diep told Powell that he wasn’t sure why he was getting pulled over. “Sorry, this is my first time getting pulled over,” Diep told Powell, according to the officer’s statement. “I’m only 19.”

Powell informed Diep that he’d let the driver off with just a verbal warning for the vehicle infractions but wanted to talk about the weed he could smell and that sack of cash in the back seat.

Diep allegedly told Powell that he was just coming back from visiting his girlfriend in Shamokin. And this Shamokin girl apparently gave him the money so he could get a new car. However, Powell says Diep couldn’t provide an address for the woman in Shamokin.

Powell also noticed a blunt in the driver side door pocket.

At some point, Diep told Powell that he had about 8 ounces of weed in the car. Powell says the driver consented to a search and he discovered a pair of sealed bags with suspected marijuana under the driver’s seat and center console. In the center console, Diep had 32 empty re-sealable bags stashed in there. In total, Powell says he found 6 sealed bags of weed.

The cash totaled $8,700.

Diep’s being charged with several misdemeanor drug charges and has a Preliminary Hearing scheduled for April 19 before District Judge David Plachko.

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