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Palm Coast Taxi Driver Arrested on Trafficking and Other Charges After Drugs Are Found in Cab

November 13, 2015 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

james mabry drug arrests
James Mabry.

James Mabry, a 53-year-old resident of Palm Coast’s W-Section who drove an Alliance Taxi, was arrested in his Taxi on Nov. 5 as he weaved across the Palm Coast Parkway bridge over I-95, and found in possession of several prescription drugs, controlled substances and marijuana, which were stored in the cab, according to his arrest report.

Mabry had told a Flagler County Sheriff’s informant that he had been a drug trafficker in New York, and had researched Palm Coast for a year before deciding to launch his “enterprise” in town. He did not explain to the informant–at least not according to the arrest report–why he found Palm Coast conducive to drug trafficking.

The encounter with the informant took place in early September, after Flagler sheriff’s detectives had carried out a controlled phone call–that is, a recorded call involving their informant–with Mabry. Mabry and the informant arranged for a cocaine transaction at the Palm Coast Walmart, for $75 a gram. The transaction was to take place in mid-morning. The informant went to Walmart, with sheriff’s detectives observing the location from a distance, but just before the transaction was to take place, the informant and Mabry had another phone conversation, and Mabry changed the location of the encounter to the Kangaroo convenience store on Cypress Point Parkway.

Minutes later the informant and Mabry met at the Kangaroo, while a sheriff’s detective was able to identify Mabry based on Mabry’s prior criminal history. During the encounter, Mabry insisted that he sell 2 grams of cocaine to the informant, for $150. “$150 baby, I need it, I gotta try to find me a place,” Mabry told the informant, explaining that he needed to find himself a new place because his neighbors were getting suspicious about his activities. The informant finally gave Mabry $75 in exchange for two zip-lock bags containing what proved to be 1.3 grams, when a detective later weighed the substance.

The detectives then cleared the informant (searching him or her to ensure that he or she wasn’t carrying any contraband), and asserted that the sale had taken place within 1,000 feet of a convenience store, which stiffens potential penalties. Circuit Judge J. David Walsh subsequently signed the warrant for Mabry’s arrest.

A deputy saw Mabry driving his Taxi across Palm Coast Parkway just after 9 p.m. on Nov. 5. The vehicle was not maintaining its lane. A traffic stop was initiated after a deputy ascertained that Mabry was at the wheel, a fact Mabry soon confirmed. When asked if he had any weapons or drugs on him, Mabry conceded to having some “powder,” the street term for cocaine. A search of the car revealed dozens of pills of various substances, kept in a cooler in the taxi next to the driver’s seat, including hydrocodone pills totaling 47.5 grams. A glass jar with marijuana residue was also found in the car, along with “multiple clear baggies consistent with the sale and packaging of narcotics, and a black digital scale,” suggesting that the alleged drug transactions were conducted with the taxi as a mobile dispenser.

Mabry was charged with sale of cocaine, possession of cocaine, trafficking hydrocodone, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia, and held on $78,000 bond at the Flagler County jail, where he remains today. Mabry was arrested in Hillsborough County on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at or within a building, battery domestic violence and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was arrested in Volusia County five years ago on an armed burglary charge.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. NortonSmitty says

    November 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm

    And just what did the “Informant” get out of this?”:

  2. Just a thought says

    November 13, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    Who cares what the informant got out of this. That’s what informants are for. The fact is this piece of crap will not be driving any anybody again.

  3. Tyron Jr says

    November 13, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    “hydrocodone pills totaling 47.5 grams”…Does that mean he had 17 pills total in weight or the total amount of hydrocodone in the pills which would be around 8 pills ? Residue in a jar of marijuana ? WoW !!!
    Big Bust….

  4. tomc says

    November 13, 2015 at 10:43 pm

    Why do all the thugs seem to like Palm Coast?

  5. AL C. says

    November 14, 2015 at 11:21 am

    Hang on, will whoever wrote this article clarify this,
    The informant finally gave Mabry $75 in exchange for two zip-lock bags containing what proved to be 1.3 grams. Now did the informant give him $75 for the original 1 gram that was discussed and that small amount was divided into 2 bags with an extra .3 for good measure? Or did he actually give $150 for what was supposed to be 2 gram and he got ripped off for .7. Or did Mabry decide to give him what was supposed to be 2 grams for the cut rate price of $75? I’m confused. A little sloppy FlaglerLive.

  6. FlaglerLive says

    November 14, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    AL C., please don’t blame the sloppiness of an alleged drug dealer on FlaglerLive. As the story states, the informant paid Mabry $75 for the cocaine, which was handed over in two bags that, when weighed by a deputy, weighed 1.3 grams. Nothing confusing about it, though it wouldn’t be the first time that a drug transaction doesn’t abide by the guidelines of weight and measures associations or the trading exactitude of the New York Stock Exchange.

  7. AL C. says

    November 14, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    Fair point with the weights and measures. But the missing link here is what was the final buy/sell agreement? Mabry, I am positive, would not sell 2 grams for $75 when it was worth $150. Also, being that 1 gram is a very small amount and that is what the original sale was for I don’t see why it would be in 2 bags, although it could have been, sure. So, when the informant finally gave Mabry $75 in exchange for two zip-lock bags containing what proved to be 1.3 grams, what was the sale for, the earlier agreed upon 1 gram or did the informant, on his own initiative, actually pay $150 for what proved to be a shorted amount?

  8. Anonymous says

    November 14, 2015 at 5:32 pm

    47 grams of hydrocodone is ALOT of pills. Seeing as 30 hydrocodone s weigh approximately 8 grams, you do the math…

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