LAKE COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) says they discovered several large amounts of cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs after executing a search warrant at a home in Umatilla.
LCSO says their SWAT team and detectives responded to the address 38945 Pine Street on December 27. The search warrant stemmed from a six-month long investigation based on numerous Crimeline tips and complaints from citizens that 46-year-old Robert Donaldson was dealing large amounts of drugs from the home.
When detectives went inside the home, they say Donaldson was there, along with his fiancé 22-year-old Joana Silva and 44-year-old Lashonda Gatson.
LCSO shared in a Facebook post that detectives found ‘a large amount of cocaine, a large amount of cocaine that had been manufactured into crack cocaine, blue pills that were stamped with a handicap symbol that tested positive for fentanyl, a large amount of marijuana, and one handgun that was stolen out of Lake County.’
They say the cocaine and crack cocaine combined was about one and a half pounds, and that the blue pills which tested positive for fentanyl totaled approximately one ounce. They say around seven pounds of marijuana was found and around $10,000 in cash. Deputies say the drugs had a street value of over $50,000.
Deputies arrested Donaldson and charged him with multiple drug offenses including:
- trafficking over 400 grams of cocaine
- trafficking four grams of fentanyl
- possession of marijuana with the intent to sell over 20 grams
- possession of ammunition by a convicted felon
- manufacturing cocaine into a cocaine base
- possession of drug paraphernalia
- ownership, lease, rental or possession of a residence for trafficking in or manufacturing a controlled substance
The sheriff’s office says he has an ‘extensive’ criminal history and is also currently on probation. They say since he violated terms of his probation, they didn’t grant him bond.
Silva was arrested also on many of the same charges as her fiancé, as well as tampering with evidence because detectives say she tried to flush crack cocaine down the toilet while they searched the home. She also was not given a bond, according to the sheriff’s office.
LCSO says they arrested Gatson and charged her with trafficking four grams of fentanyl and possession of a firearm by convicted felon. She was given a bond of $60,000.
