Key West man, convicted felon, caught with weapons, drugs

A Key West man was arrested Tuesday, charged with being a convicted felon with weapons and for possessing illegal drugs.

Traffic Enforcement Deputy John McGee stopped the silver Ford F250 truck at 17th Terrace and Northside Drive in Key West just after 4 p.m. after he saw the driver was not wearing a safety belt. The driver was identified as 44 year old Nelson Sawyer of Key West. A K-9 law enforcement team responded to the location and did a sniff of the outside of the truck, checking for the presence of illegal substances.

The dog alerted on the vehicle, indicated the presence of narcotics inside. A search of the vehicle turned up 22 Alprazolam pills. The search also turned up two firearms and a machete in a duffel bag on the rear floorboard, behind the driver’s seat. The guns were identified as a Smith & Wesson M&P .22 caliber long rifle and a Spike’s Tactical ST-15 short barrel firearm. A check of Sawyer’s criminal history confirmed him to be a Florida convicted felon.

Sawyer was arrested and charged with two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was booked into jail. Members of the Key West Police Department Special Operations Unit and Homeland Security Investigations assisted with the investigation.

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