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Trial date set in pot arrest

| January 27, 2006 8:00 PM

Othello man released on $500 bail

RITZVILLE — An Othello man arrested earlier this week in possession of more than $60,000 in marijuana has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Omar Guzman, 24, was arrested by the Washington State Patrol for driving with a suspended license Sunday, and troopers later found a suitcase full of marijuana and a handgun in the 1992 Infinity also occupied by his 3-year-old daughter.

Investigators found the 30 pounds of marijuana, priced at $66,000, in the suitcase in the car's back seat next to his daughter. A 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun was found in a driver's door pocket.

Adams County prosecutors charged Guzman with one count of possession with intent to deliver marijuana and one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm after the WSP booked him in the Adams County Jail.

Guzman pleaded not guilty Monday to the charges, and a trial date was scheduled for March 21. He is being represented by a public defender, the prosecutor's office said.

Guzman was released Wednesday on $500 bail, and is scheduled to next appear in court March 6 for a pretrial conference.

— Staff report