Bailing your friend out of jail could be chalked up as a “good deed”. Unwittingly handing a cop your cocaine, however, is not so good, and will likely land you in a world of trouble, as one Clinton Township man recently discovered when paying a police officer with what can only be called “dirty money.”
Dirty Money For Friends Bailout Leads To Arrest
Royal Norton, a 51-year-old man who just wanted to help out a friend, has been arrested and is now facing charges for possession of cocaine. But what makes this particular situation unique is the fact that Norton literally handed his cocaine to an officer at the local police station, wrapped up in a couple of hundred dollar bills he was using to bail his friend out of jail.
According to the police officer’s recounting of the event, Norton handed him a wad of bills and when he unfolded them, there was a little packet of cocaine mixed in with the money. Norton immediately claimed that he had never seen it before and had no idea how it had come to be in his pocket.
As you can imagine, the police accepted Norton’s cash as a bail payment, and his friend was released from jail. But Norton was promptly arrested and took his friend’s place behind bars. He was later also released, after paying 10 percent of a $7,500 bond. No information is available regarding whether or not his recently released friend returned the favor in any way and helped out with Norton’s bail costs.
The officers involved said they’ve never encountered a situation like this before, and claimed that it made their job easier by a long shot. After all, it’s not every day that someone walks into a police station and hands an officer a packet of cocaine.
His next court date has been scheduled to take place within 10 days in the 41B District Court in Clinton Township, where a judge will attempt to determine if there is in fact enough evidence to send him to trial.
If he does indeed get bound over for trial, Norton is facing a felony conviction that could result in up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.