A man walking in Bloomfield in the middle of the night, with a warrant out for his arrest, is accused of carrying drugs and paraphernalia in his backpack. He said he just used those red straws to chew on. A deputy said those red straws had a white powder residue inside. This story is very similar to another story posted about a year ago about the same man.

Jonathon Troy Merle Moran, now 37, was arrested early Wednesday morning, September 18, by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Zachary Goad.

Deputy Goad first spotted Moran around 2:30 a.m. when he was sitting on the sidewalk next to the Greene County Courthouse. Deputy Goad stopped to ask Moran if he needed assistance.

Moran, who was wearing a backpack, said he was just walking home and did not need a ride or assistance and he took off walking north on South Washington Street.

Deputy Goad checked in with dispatch and learned there was a warrant out for Moran’s arrest.

Moran was then located walking in an alley headed toward Judge Street and was taken into custody.

Deputy Goad reported that during the normal search, he found Moran was carrying red straws with a white powder residue, clear plastic bags with either white powder residue or a white crystal-like substance and a silver scale, also with a residue, among other items. A field test indicated the presence of methamphetamine and several items will be sent to a lab for testing – results pending.

Moran allegedly admitted the set of scales was his and said he uses the straws to chew on.

Moran was booked into jail around 3:20 a.m. He was being held without bond.

He is scheduled to appear in court next Monday when he’ll be charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.

He’s also scheduled to appear in court that same day in another case now pending. A little over a year ago, Moran was the subject of another story with a similar headline….

Here’s the previous story posted on August 15, 2018:

Night walker arrested on drug charges, bond set at $25,000

A man walking in Bloomfield in the middle of the night told an officer the white crystal substance in his pocket was salt. The officer said it was methamphetamine. The walker was arrested and is being held on a $25,000 bond.

Jonathon Troy Merle Moran, 35, was walking south on South Seminary Street when Bloomfield Deputy Marshal Jordan Allor stopped to talk to him around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, August 4.

Officer Allor said he was northbound on South Seminary when he saw Moran and thought he matched the description of a suspect involved in an earlier theft at the CVS Pharmacy in Bloomfield.

Moran allegedly said he had nothing to do with the theft and was heading to a buddy’s house.

Officer Allor saw a pocket knife in Moran’s front pocket so he asked Moran if he had any other weapons. Moran said no and agreed to let the officer search for weapons.

When the officer asked what was in Moran’s right cargo pocket, Moran said it was his wallet, but the officer noted Moran was already holding a wallet in his hand from when he was asked to provide identification.

Allor reported the item in the pocket was a small black case containing several small Ziploc bags containing a white crystal substance.

Moran allegedly said the substance was salt and he’d just picked it up off the street and was going to throw it away. But the officer suspected the substance was methamphetamine and reported it field tested positive as methamphetamine.

Moran was taken into custody and booked into the Greene County Jail.

Both court and jail records show Moran with a home address in Spencer.

When Moran appeared in Greene Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon, August 14, he was charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony.

Moran was first held without bond pending his appearance in court. During the initial hearing, his bond was set at $25,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

Update: Here’s what happened next:

In September, 2018, Moran entered into a plea agreement and on October 16, he changed his plea to guilty and was convicted of possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony.

Moran was sentenced to two years in the county jail but he was given credit for 68 days he’d already served and 460 days were suspended.

After he finished serving his time, he was on probation and on August 30, the Greene County Probation Department filed a motion to revoke his suspended sentence for a violation of a condition of probation.

A warrant was issued for his arrest on Tuesday, September 3, and then early this morning, he ran into Deputy Goad at the courthouse in the middle of the night.