EG Man Pleads to Amended Possession Charge

An East Greenwich man has been ordered to serve probation after pleading on July 16 in Washington County Superior Court to an amended charge of possession of marijuana.

Raymond Fleser, 24, of 5390 Post Road, East Greenwich, and formerly of 20 Beaver River Schoolhouse Road, West Kingston, pleaded to a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana. The charge was amended from possession of more than five kilograms of marijuana.

Fleser was ordered to serve a year of probation and to pay $208 in assessments. The charges originated from both the Narragansett and South Kingstown police departments.

According to reports from both departments included in court records, in February police received an anonymous tip that a gold Hyundai with Florida plates was transporting a significant amount of narcotics in and out of South County.

A South Kingstown police officer saw a vehicle matching this description on March 22, and initiated a traffic stop at the McGrath Judicial Complex after noting that the driver also didn’t have his seat belt on.

Narragansett’s K-9 unit, Goro, was called to the scene. The police dog allegedly indicated that narcotics were in the trunk of the vehicle, and a search revealed 5.547 kilograms – 12.23 pounds – of marijuana in large plastic bags.

Police said that the car’s driver – Fleser – told them there he was transporting it from 33 Palm Beach Avenue in Narragansett, where there was more and where he was living at the time.

A motion to suppress the search of Fleser’s car was filed by his attorney, but it’s unclear if this motion was ruled on by the court. It’s also unclear from court files if additional drugs were found at 33 Palm Beach Avenue.

In December 2006, Fleser wrote a letter to The Good Five Cent Cigar criticizing the usage of undercover police officers in drug buys. However, he had no previous arrests, and according to court records he is a member of the Air Force.