Troopers charge 3 men in drug case

5/1/2010

Bond was set at $1 million Friday for each of three men arrested when the Ohio Highway Patrol seized 238 pounds of marijuana, valued at more than $1.2 million, during a traffic stop in Maumee.

The driver of the vehicle, Richard H. Weaver, 34, of Elmsford, N.Y., and two passengers, David A. Valentini, 33, of Naples, Fla., and Robert P. Weaver, 26, of Toms River, N.J., were charged with trafficking in marijuana and possession of marijuana.

They appeared yesterday in Maumee Municipal Court and were ordered held in the Lucas County jail pending a May 6 court appearance.

Troopers stopped a 28-foot motor home with Pennsylvania registration for a lane violation on the Ohio Turnpike two miles west of Reynolds Road about 1 p.m. Thursday. A dog alerted troopers to the marijuana hidden in the vehicle, the patrol said.