Pool pleads guilty to possession

Darren Pool, born in 1995, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance during the Oct. 8 session of Ozark County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to four years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, SES, and five years probation. An SES, or suspended execution of sentence, means Pool was sentenced to the prison term but was placed on probation. He will not go to prison unless he violates the terms of his probation.

According to the plea agreement, the misdemeanor charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia was dismissed.

According to the probable cause statement, prepared by Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. J. Roberts, charges come from an incident on Jan. 26, when Roberts was patrolling near Barren Fork bridge on Highway 5 in Ozark County and he observed a maroon 1991 Chevrolet Silverado traveling toward the rear of his patrol vehicle. Roberts could see on his patrol vehicle’s radar machine that Pool was traveling 81 miles per hour on the highway, which has a 60 miles per hour speed limit. 

The officer pulled his patrol vehicle to the shoulder of the road to let Pool pass, and then initiated a stop. 

“While Pool was driving his vehicle to the shoulder, he was reaching into the floorboard of the truck and looking back at my location. It appeared Pool was hiding or trying to reach for something,” the report says. 

After Pool pulled over, Roberts exited his patrol vehicle and asked Pool to show him his hands outside the window since he had been making strange movements. Pool obeyed the officer. 

Roberts asked Pool if he had any weapons in the vehicle, and he said he didn’t and the officer could search the vehicle. 

“I asked Pool what he was reaching for, and he stated, ‘I was putting my soda up.’ Pool’s hands were shaking, his voice was quivering. I asked for his driver’s license, which he stated he didn’t have. I asked Pool to exit his vehicle, [and] he complied. Pool walked to the back of his vehicle where I checked him for weapons for my safety. I could see a non-driver’s license in his back right pocket, which I retrieved.”

Roberts then asked Pool to sit in his patrol vehicle. The officer ran a check of Pool’s driver privileges and found that he had a revoked license from Nov. 22, 2022. Roberts noticed while he was talking to the man that his hands were shaking nervously. He then checked MULES (Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System) and found that Pool had been arrested five days prior for possession of a controlled substance. He asked Pool if there were any illegal drugs inside his vehicle, and he said there was methamphetamine and a pipe between the seats. 

Roberts requested assistance from the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department, and advised Pool of his Miranda rights. OCSD Deputy and K9 handler Josh Sherman and Deputy Gannon Moss arrived on scene. Sherman and Roberts searched Pool’s vehicle and seized a clear glass pipe containing drug residue and a clear plastic baggie containing a crystalline substance from between the seats. 

Roberts asked Pool if the contents of the baggie was methamphetamine, and he reportedly said it was. Roberts arrested him and transported him to the county jail.