Police: Man Tells Officers He Started Selling Marijuana to Make Ends Meet

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An Eagan man arrested after police allegedly discovered nearly one pound of marijuana and roughly $1,500 in cash in his possession told police he was selling the drug to make ends meet.

Leighton John Moore, 31, faces one felony count of selling a controlled substance, one felony count of possession of a controlled substance, driving with a revoked license and failure to produce proof of insurance. If convicted on the first charge, Moore could face a maximum of five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

On Sept. 22, an Eagan police officer on a routine patrol on Cedar Avenue stopped a vehicle for failing to display a front license plate. The officer ran a check on the vehicle, and discovered that the vehicle owner, Moore, had his Minnesota driving privileges revoked.

While speaking with Moore, the officer allegedly smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle. At that point, Moore allegedly admitted that he had roughly one pound of marijuana in the car, and told police he decided to start selling marijuana because he had fallen on hard times.

Police searched the vehicle and located a glass pipe with marijuana residue, $1,541 in cash and three bags containing a total of 362.2 grams of marijuana, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Dakota County Attorney's Office.

During the traffic stop, Moore allegedly told police the cash was obtained by selling marijuana.

Moore has previous convictions for domestic assault and possession of marijuana.