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1 traffic stop = 1 felony, 5 misdemeanors, 15 citations issued
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This pickup truck was the vehicle in which three people got a total of 21 citations and charges Saturday. - photo by Lafayette County Sheriff's Department

TOWN OF BELMONT — It started as a traffic stop on U.S. 151 Saturday afternoon on a car that didn’t have a front license plate.

It ended with two people arrested — one on felony drug charges, the other on a probation violation — with a total of one felony and five misdemeanor charges and 15 citations issued by the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department.

Kasey L. Cooper, 19, Montfort, was arrested on charges of possession with marijuana with intent to deliver, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, and operating with a restricted controlled substance.

Cooper was also cited for failure to attach a front registration plate, non-registration of a vehicle, displaying unauthorized vehicle plates, altering a registration sticker, operating after suspension, underage transporting intoxicants, driver keeping open intoxicants in a motor vehicle, allowing a seatbelt violation, operating without a rearview mirror, and operating without insurance.

Cooper will have a preliminary hearing in Lafayette County Circuit Court Feb. 19. Cooper faces a maximum sentence of 3½ years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the marijuana possession charge.

Cooper’s passenger, Paige E. Martin, 19, Dodgeville, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and a probation violation. Martin also was cited for open intoxicants in a motor vehicle and underage drinking.

According to court records, Martin was participating in a deferral program after she was placed on one year probation on a charge of possession of a controlled substance in September. Her probation conditions included no possession of any controlled substance.

A 16-year-old also in the car was cited for open intoxicants in a motor vehicle, underage possession of alcohol, and failure to fasten a seatbelt. The youth was released to a parent, according to the Sheriff’s Department.