Man on probation arrested with 125 grams of marijuana

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Antonio Donnell Towns Jr., 24, was arrested early this morning after an officer reported finding 125 grams of marijuana during a traffic stop.

At about 2:30 a.m. on November 29, a Gainesville Police Department officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for crossing a solid white line and driving straight through an intersection after entering a left-turn-only lane.

When the officer approached, he reported seeing a 2-gallon bag of marijuana in plain view on the rear floorboard and also smelled the strong odor of fresh marijuana coming from the vehicle.

Towns, the driver and registered owner of the vehicle, reportedly was unable to produce a medical marijuana card.

A probable cause search of the vehicle, based on the improperly packaged marijuana in plain view, reportedly produced two jars of marijuana, two small baggies of marijuana, and a 2-gallon bag of marijuana, totaling 125.4 grams. The officer noted that none of the marijuana was in dispensary packaging.

The search also reportedly produced 0.2 grams of “Cannabis THC butter” in a dispensary container, 47 bills of mixed denominations totaling $293, a box of empty baggies, a scale, and two packs of rolling papers.

Post Miranda, Towns reportedly said all the marijuana belonged to him and admitted to smoking weed earlier in the day and smoking in the car. He said, however, that the cash was not his. He said all of the marijuana was for his personal use and denied any intent to sell it.

Towns reportedly said he had purchased the marijuana from a dispensary and moved it to plastic baggies so it would not stink up his car, but he could not explain why he had brought so much marijuana with him in his car. When he was asked which dispensary he purchased from, he reportedly refused to answer any more questions.

Towns has been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a college campus (he was pulled over in the parking lot of UF’s east campus on Waldo Road), maintaining a vehicle for the purpose of selling drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has five felony convictions and one misdemeanor conviction; he has served one prison sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and unlawfully concealing a firearm and was released in April 2025, and he is on probation until April 2027. Judge Adam Lee set bail at $115,000 on the new charges and ordered him held without bail until the probation violation is resolved.

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.