Two men from Okmulgee who were scheduled to stand trial during the upcoming jury term have pleaded no contest to reduced charges and drawn deferred terms.
Lincoln County deputies arrested the two in November of 2022 The deputies reportedly seized 386 marijuana clone plants.
Quing Li Zheng, 55, and Wei Gao, 41, were each charged Nov. 23, 2022 in Lincoln County District Court with endeavoring to cultivate CDS.
During the felony disposition docket Jan. 16 before Associate District Judge Sheila Kirk, Zheng and Gao each made no contest pleas to the amended charge of misdemeanor possession of marijuana as the result of a plea bargain.
The court found the two guilty of the amended charge, deferred sentencing for one year, handed each $100 judicial assessments, each a $100 VCA and court costs. Judge Kirk ordered the two to complete an alcohol and drug assessment and complete all recommendations.
They are to pay 991C fees and she placed them on probation with Oklahoma Court Services. They are to report to the probation office and Court Clerk’s office.
At the conclusion of a preliminary hearing, they were ordered to stand trial.
They made their initial appearance last Dec. 1, 2022 before Judge Mueller.
Their cause had been set for the felony disposition docket on Jan. 16, 2024, the jury trial call docket on Jan. 23 and a jury trial on Feb. 5.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Capt. Chuck Brewer, in a probable cause affidavit, states that at around 3 p.m. on Nov. 15 he was conducting drug enforcement surveillance in the area of East Highway U.S. 62 just west of the town of the Meeker.
He says in the affidavit that he observed a van occupied by two males enter a marijuana grow facility at 339452 E. Highway 62 and ran the tag number through dispatch. He was advised the van was registered to Quing Li Zheng with an address in Okmulgee.
Brewer stated he continued surveillance for about 45 minutes when he observed the same van exit the marijuana grow facility and head eastbound on U.S. 62. He proceeded to follow the van and said as it approached the Meeker Town Limits he noticed the vehicle moved to the right of the marked roadway, crossing over the white line, a traffic infraction of failure to maintain lane.
The captain said he observed the van stop at the stop sign at U.S. 62 and SH 18 in Meeker, turned right, and head southbound. He activated his emergency lights to make a traffic stop and the van pulled over and stopped in the parking lot of a store in Meeker.
Brewer stated that when he approached the driver door of the vehicle, and the driver lowered the window, he could smell a strong odor coming from inside the vehicle that was green marijuana.
He reported the driver didn’t speak English so he contacted an agent with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics who knew the language. He used his speaker phone so the OBN agent could interpret the conversation.
The driver of the van told Brewer and the agent he was transporting marijuana clone plants and didn’t have a license to transport them.
With probable cause established, the sheriff’s captain detained Zheng and his passenger Wei Goa. Brewer conducted a search of the vehicle, he said, and discovered seven containers in which there were small marijuana plants commonly known as clones.