Bloomfield driver and passenger facing drug charges after traffic stop east of Linton

A 33-year-old Bloomfield woman has been charged with meth possession but her 53-year-old male passenger, also from Bloomfield, has been charged with dealing methamphetamine as a result of a traffic stop by ISP Troopers for an expired license plate.

Richard Carl Lasater

Richard Carl Lasater and Michelle Lynn Snyder were booked in to the Greene County Jail on Friday night, November 2, by the Indiana State Police Troopers Richard Klun and Caleb Garvin.

Trooper Klun, the investigating officer, and Trooper Garvin were working stationary patrol that night on State Road 54 east of Lonetree Road east of Linton, along with Klun’s K9 Loki.

When a silver Dodge Durango passed by, eastbound on the highway, a random vehicle registration check revealed the plate on the Durango had expired in 2017 and it was actually registered to a silver Chevrolet Uplander minivan. A traffic stop was conducted on SR 54 just west of County Road 900.

Snyder was the driver. Lasater was the passenger.

Snyder said she had recently purchased the Durango and she provided a bill of sale. She said the plates belonged to her minivan at her house in Bloomfield.

Snyder was asked to exit the vehicle and K9 Loki was deployed. Loki alerted at the door of the passenger.

Snyder was detained and then Lasater was also detained.

Michelle Lynn Snyder

When Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Heather Wood arrived to assist and completed a search of Snyder, she reported no contraband was found on Snyder.

When Lasater was searched, Trooper Garvin reported he was found in possession of a plastic bag containing a crystal-like substance.

During a search of the Durango, a glass smoking device with a burnt residue was found in the center console. It field-tested positive for methamphetamine.

The crystal-like substance in the bag also field-tested positive as methamphetamine with an approximate weight of 29 grams including the bag. Trooper Klun said this amount is not consistent with personal use but was of an amount that would indicate sales and distribution of methamphetamine.

Both were transported to jail and were held without bond pending their appearances in Greene Superior Court for initial hearings.

Yesterday, on Tuesday, November 13, Snyder appeared and was charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor. Her bond was set at $4,500 surety with ten percent allowed. Following the hearing, she posted $450 cash and has been released from jail.

When Lasater appeared, also yesterday, he was charged with dealing in methamphetamine in an amount of ten or more grams, a Level 2 felony, and possession of methamphetamine in an amount of 28 or more grams, a Level 3 felony. His bond was set at $55,000 surety with ten percent allowed. It would take $5,500 cash for him to be released and as of late Wednesday, he was still in jail.