ROCKINGHAM — A man who allegedly didn’t show up for court is now facing felony drug charge.
According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the Community Impact Team was investigating complaints of drug activity on Westfield Drive, just north of Cordova, on Friday, Sept. 9 when investigators conducted a traffic stop.
The press release, issued Monday, does not identify the initial cause for the stop.
One of the occupants, 27-year-old Frank Robert Marciniak, of Rockingham, had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court on a breaking and entering charge, the release states.
Marciniak was taken to a patrol car where he reportedly told deputies that he “had thrown some illegal substance into the back seat and did not want anyone else in the vehicle to get in trouble for it.”
Investigators searched the car and found a baggie of fentanyl, according to the sheriff’s office. The quantity of the synthetic opioid was not specified in the press release.
Marciniak was served with the order for arrest and charged with possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, and booked into the Richmond County Jail under a combined $13,500 secured bond. He was still being held as of 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Online court records show Marciniak’s next appearance on the misdemeanor breaking and entering charge is Oct. 28 and his court date on the drug charge is Sept. 22.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Marciniak was first convicted in 2017 of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance. He was initially given probation, which was revoked the following year, leading to a three-month incarceration.
Marciniak also received probation for a 2019 felony breaking and entering conviction and when he was convicted of larceny of firearms in 2020.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
