Man Busted With $300k Worth of Marijuana Wrapped As Christmas Gifts (Photos)

The State Highway Patrol says troopers found 71 pounds of marijuana and other drugs wrapped as Christmas gifts in a vehicle that was stopped for a driving violation in northwest Ohio.

A 31-year-old California native may not be celebrating Christmas as he planned after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers found 71 pounds of marijuana and other cannabis products disguised as gifts in the back of the suspect’s SUV.

Daniel A. Yates was driving down Interstate 80 in Wood County in a rental car with Washington State plates, Ohio, when troopers pulled him over for following the vehicle in front of him too closely. Troopers found “criminal indicators” and a drug-sniffing canine helped police establish a probable cause for the search.

Officers discovered 10 boxes in holiday wrap with 71 pounds of marijuana, 360 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) pills and a pound of hash oil.

Yates is scheduled to appear in court next week after he was slapped with second-degree felony charges of possession and drug trafficking. If convicted he could face a $30,000 fine and 16 years in prison.

Yates’ case of smuggling marijuana in gift boxes isn’t the only festive-themed felony. Officers of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana arrested a woman on Thanksgiving after she beat her husband with a turkey.

Officers arrived at the home of 52-year-old Helen Jackson and her husband, who were screaming at one another. The husband said he had been trying to cook the turkey when the fight broke out.

Jackson is accused of holding a knife to her husband’s throat, which she initially denied. She later admitted to taking the blade from her husband as he was using it to carve the turkey.

There are currently no indicators as to whether the argument started because he was about to deep fry the turkey while still frozen, or if he made a comment about the president-elect of the