Smith released on total bond of $26,000 on multiple counts
A 58-year-old Sarasota man has been arrested on multiple narcotics charges following the execution of a search warrant at his home that resulted in the seizure of more than 100 grams of cocaine, the Sarasota Police Department has reported.
Lashay Alexander Smith, of 3120 Old Bradenton Road, was released from jail on Sept. 6 on total bond of $26,000, his jail booking record says.
He has been charged with “trafficking in cocaine, a felony; two counts of possession of a controlled substance, felonies; keeping or maintaining a dwelling for using a controlled substance, a misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor,” a Police Department news release points out.
An anonymous tip led officers to execute the search warrant on Sept. 2, the release adds. Smith was the only person in the home when detectives arrived on the scene, the release notes.
On Sept. 8, The Sarasota News Leader learned from 12th Judicial Circuit Court records that Smith has entered a plea of “Not Guilty” and demanded a jury trial. He is being represented by Assistant Public Defender Geoffrey H. Proffitt, the document shows.
During the search of Smith’s dwelling, the Police Department release continues, detectives found the following inside a bedroom:
- Crack cocaine weighing 45.5 grams and powder cocaine weighing 56.1 grams.
- 10 pills containing morphine sulfate, “an opioid pain medication and Schedule II controlled substance,” the release explains.
- “18 buprenorphine-naloxone tablets, a prescription combination medication and Schedule III controlled substance,” the release adds.
- U.S. currency totaling $793.
“Throughout the home, officers also found a variety of clear sandwich and Ziploc-style bags, scales with cocaine residue and razors with cocaine residue,” the release points out. “Detectives say these items are commonly associated with the portioning, packaging and sale of cocaine,” it adds.
“Smith has 14 prior felony convictions,” the release continues. They pertain to “one weapon offense, one burglary, three drug-sale offenses, five drug-possession offenses, and four convictions for driving with a suspended license with knowledge, classified as a Habitual Traffic Offender in Florida,” the release says.
The News Leader review of 12th Judicial Circuit Court records available online found that the first charges Smith faced came in July 2005. One of the counts was Possession of a Controlled Substance without a Prescription.
Any person with information about this case or other suspected narcotics activity in the city of Sarasota is encouraged to contact Sarasota Police Department detectives, the release adds. “Call the Sarasota Police Department Strategic Investigations Unit at 941-263-6050 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 941-366-TIPS (8477).”
An apparent attempt to put blame on a purported cousin
The Probable Cause Affidavit in the case says that personnel with the Sarasota Police Department — including officers and detectives — served the search warrant at Smith’s residence at 5 a.m. on Sept. 2.
The affidavit adds that the dwelling has one bedroom and one bathroom.
Along with the items that the Police Department noted above in its press release, the affidavit says that, following police personnel’s reading of his Miranda rights to him, Smith admitted his drug use. He “initially stayed quiet when he was asked if he would speak to detectives regarding the case,” so one officer “advised [him] that the [officer] would let him think about it.”
When the officer “re-approached Smith at [5:52 a.m.] and asked him if he still understood his Miranda Rights … he stated yes,” the affidavit continues. Then Smith agreed to speak with that officer, it notes.
Smith explained that he lives with a cousin, whom he identified as Danny Robinson, and for whom he provided a description, the affidavit says. Smith added that the last time that cousin was home was “ ‘today,’ ” the affidavit notes. However, Smith added, the cousin “probably left while [Smith] was awake.”
Smith then said he had arrived home around 9 or 10 p.m. the previous night, but the cousin “was not home when he arrived,” the affidavit continues.
The officer writes in the narrative that the latter statement contradicted the initial one, as the latter indicated that Robinson was home the previous night when Smith returned to the dwelling unit.
Smith also reported “that Robinson stays at the residence pretty much every day, and that Robinson sleeps wherever he feels like it.”
Further, Smith said that he “sleeps on the couch of the residence and only goes to [the] bedroom to use the bathroom and shower inside of it,” the narrative continues.
Then, when the officer asked whether Smith had “any of his belongings in the bedroom, Smith stated that only his ID would be on the dresser …” The officer adds in the narrative that the ID “was in a shorts pocket that was in the closet of the bedroom.”
Moreover, the officer points out that “different mail pieces [were] scattered around the residence (including the bedroom) that had Smith’s name on them. No other mail pieces with other recipients’ names were found.”
Additionally, the officer explains that the officer “could not locate any local person by the name of ‘Danny Robinson’ that fit the description that Smith provided.”
“There is probable cause to believe that Lashay Alexander Smith is the sole resident of [the dwelling located at] 3120 Old Bradenton [Road], as there is no evidence or proof of the ‘Danny Robinson’ that Smith spoke about being an actual person that stays at the residence,” the affidavit points out.