HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The hearing for a man and woman arrested on drug distribution charges was continued to next month because a KBI lab report over testing of the drugs has not been completed.
Twenty-nine-year-old John Paul Zapata-Beltran and 27-year-old Amy Ann Fisher are both charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of prescription drugs, all with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school. Other charges include possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute and no drug tax stamp. Zapata-Beltran is also charged with criminal possession of a firearm.
This is over a search being served on a Hutchinson home and vehicle where drugs and a firearm were found. This within a thousand feet of a school.
The two defense attorneys requested that their clients be granted O-R, also known as signature bonds or at least a reduction in their bonds. Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton argued that they are a danger to the community and the bonds should remain. Especially Zapata-Beltran, saying he had the gun, but his attorney, Bonnie Corrado, argued that he was in jail at the time of the search and believes the state won’t be able to connect him to that gun.
Judge Joe McCarville agreed with the state, saying part of the consideration for bonds is to ensure safety and whether suspects are a danger to the community. He says they were certainly a danger to that neighborhood. He denied the request for any change in the bonds.
Zapata-Beltran is jailed on a bond of $156,500, but that also includes bonds for another case. Fisher is jailed on a bond of $50,000.
Judge McCarville agreed to the continuance and rescheduled the hearing for Oct. 1.
The case started with the Reno County Drug Unit serving a search of a home. In the master bedroom, they allege that they found green residue wrapped in tin foil and an empty digital scale box. On top of a dryer, officers found two burnt marijuana cigarettes and, inside a bathroom, officers found a small baggie of suspected methamphetamine.
In the trunk of a 2003 Jaguar sitting on a trailer, they allegedly found two backpacks. Inside the orange one, they say they found a small lock box with some prescription drugs, new packaging materials, $10,000 in cash and a Taurus 9mm handgun with a loaded magazine and two holsters. In the front pocket of the backpack were two digital scales. In the other backpack, they allegedly found more drugs, including 14.5 grams of methamphetamine and several bags of suspected marijuana weighing about 340 grams.
The arrest of the two occurred back in June.