Troopers discover 200 vials of marijuana/hash oil during traffic stop

Thursday, February 28, 2019

REELSVILLE — A Wednesday evening traffic stop wound up yielding 200 vials of hash oil and led to misdemeanor charges for a DePauw University student.

At 9:45 p.m., Indiana State Trooper Austin Fowler observed a black Toyota SUV that failed to dim its headlights while traveling westbound on U.S. 40 near County Road 750 South.

The driver of the vehicle was identified as Ashaun Miller, 22, of Terre Haute.

During the course of the traffic stop, Trooper Fowler observed criminal indicators and the smell of burnt marijuana coming from the vehicle.

Consent was received from Miller for a vehicle search.

During the search of the vehicle, Trooper Fowler discovered 200 vials of hash oil in a tote located in the back seat. Miller was traveling from Indianapolis to Terre Haute.

Miller was taken into custody and transported to the Putnam County Jail.

He faces preliminary charges of Class A misdemeanor dealin in marijuana/hash oil, Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana and Class C misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia.

Assisting in the investigation was Trooper James Crisp of the Putnamville State Police Post.

A graduate of Terre Haute North High School, Miller is a senior psychology major at DePauw University and a three-year letterman on the football team.

Miller was All-NCAC First Team in 2017 and All-NCAC Second Team in 2018.

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  • GOOD JOB get the trash out of Putnam Co.

    -- Posted by becker on Thu, Feb 28, 2019, at 6:48 PM
  • A good way to really screw up your senior year in college. This will look really good on Grad School apps and/or job applications. Maybe he already has a committeemen for his future, but that could all go down the drain now. I bet your family is really proud!

    -- Posted by gustave&zelma on Fri, Mar 1, 2019, at 9:44 AM
  • Totally idiotic move. Had it made with a great education and future and screwed it all up. No sympathy for him.

    -- Posted by Queen53 on Mon, Mar 4, 2019, at 5:28 PM
  • my question is why are these charges only misdemeanors? Shouldn't at least two of the charges be felonies? Is he getting a slap on the hand because he's a DePauw student? Just curious

    -- Posted by coconut9092 on Tue, Mar 5, 2019, at 8:26 AM
  • *

    Coconut9092 -

    Excellent question.

    Perhaps someone from the County Prosecutors office would like to weigh in?

    Perhaps some intrepid reporter from the Banner Graphic would actually be a reporter and dig a little deeper?

    Interestingly - no one (police, prosecutors, Banner Graphic) put a "street value" on this haul. Why is that? B/c they would have to admit that misdemeanor charges are BS and felony charges are warranted. Approximate street value (by my reckoning) would be close to $10k.

    If you were to convert that to ounces and grams (the legal measurement for the difference between misdemeanor and felony charges) - you are looking at over 50 ounces.

    That's felony quantities more than 50 times over.

    -- Posted by dreadpirateroberts on Tue, Mar 5, 2019, at 9:12 AM
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