Resident charged with possession of more than 20 pounds of marijuana

Published 6:27 am Thursday, October 22, 2009

An Austin man already facing felony sexual conduct charges was charged with two more felonies Tuesday for allegedly possessing more than 20 pounds of marijuana.

William Conner, 51, appeared in Mower County court Wednesday on one count of third-degree drug sales and one count of third-degree drug possession.

A week ago, Conner appeared in court on six counts of criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having sexual relations with a teenage girl during the past seven years.

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According to a criminal complaint, Conner gave his son a nylon bag containing almost 2 pounds of marijuana and asked him to hide it before he was arrested on the sex charges.

On Oct. 14, the boy’s mother handed that bag over to police. In addition to 1.77 pounds of pot, the bag contained a wallet with Conner’s ID and a digital scale, the complaint states.

The woman told authorities that Conner also had a storage unit rented in her name. Police searched the garage on Oct. 15.

Inside, they found seven bags containing a total of just more than 21 pounds of marijuana, according to the complaint.

Conner is already in custody for the alleged sex crime on $250,000 bail, or $50,000 with court conditions, which include no contact with the alleged victim or other children.

An arraignment in that case is scheduled for Thursday.