Gainesville man charged with selling drugs, unlawfully possessing a concealed firearm

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Tamaris Lorenzo Roberson, 24, was arrested yesterday after officers reportedly found two firearms and over 400 grams of marijuana in his car.

At about 2:30 p.m. on May 29, Gainesville Police Department officers saw a person with a warrant walk up to Roberson’s car and open and close the front passenger door. When officers made contact with the wanted person, Roberson rolled down his window, and officers reportedly smelled burnt marijuana from inside the vehicle; another law enforcement officer reportedly saw the buffer tube of a pistol-caliber rifle in the back seat.

Roberson was detained, and officers found that he had a medical marijuana card, but when an officer asked if he knew he wasn’t allowed to drive a vehicle and smoke marijuana at the same time, he reportedly said he knew and also said the marijuana was not purchased from a medical marijuana dispensary.

A search of the vehicle reportedly produced a 9mm pistol concealed between the driver’s seat and center console and an AR pistol in the back seat; both were loaded. A backpack found on the floor in the back seat reportedly contained a bottle of promethazine hydrochloride, two bags of marijuana with a total weight of about 454 grams, empty baggies, and a scale.

Post Miranda, Roberson reportedly said he had smoked a “blunt” in the vehicle and was talking to the wanted person before officers arrived; he said the marijuana was for his personal use and he doesn’t like to get ripped off, so he keeps a scale with him. He said he is “homeless” and buys marijuana in bulk when he gets paid for odd jobs, and then he packages it into bags of 7 to 14 grams “so that he knows he doesn’t smoke too much or too much at one time to avoid burning through his stash.” He said the marijuana should weigh about 200 grams and he recently bought it with money from selling a pair of shoes.

The officer noted that Roberson had more marijuana than the amount considered to be for personal use, along with the ability to separate it into smaller bags for individual sales. He noted that Roberson had cash that would give him “the ability for quick/easy narcotics sales.”

Roberson was previously pulled over in the same vehicle on May 30, 2024, and charged with possession of a controlled substance after a search reportedly produced over 400 grams of marijuana. That case can no longer be found in Alachua County court records. He was also arrested in 2019 for possession of about 3 grams of marijuana and counterfeit money, but those charges were later dropped.

Roberson has been charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and possession of a concealed firearm during the commission of a felony. He has no criminal convictions, and Judge Kristine Van Vorst set bail at $100,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.