Hotel drug dealer gets free extended stay

Steven Blankenship, 61, of Sugarland, received a free room in the Grimes County Jail when his drug transaction at a Navasota hotel did not go as planned.

Navasota Police Department, Grimes County Sheriff’s Office and the Grimes County District Attorney’s office conducted surveillance and identified narcotic activity at the Navasota Inn, 9460 State Highway 6, Monday, June 24.

Officers coordinated a buy and bust operation at the inn at approximately 10:45 a.m. A 2018 Ford F-250 arrived in the parking driven by Blankenship. He was detained and officers conducted a search of the vehicle.

Five sealed bags of marijuana weighing over 5.7 ounces, over 2 grams of Adderall pills, Viagra, 2,000 mg of THC oil and over $3,400 in cash were recovered from the vehicle.

According to Police Chief Shawn Myatt, Blankenship confessed to possessing and delivering the narcotics to the inn to be re-sold locally.

The owners of the Navasota Inn were appreciative of the work performed by law enforcement agencies. Owners stated several longterm guests showed concern and are grateful for the work of all the agencies involved “for helping get the narcotic related traffic out of their place of business.”

Blankenship was booked in the Grimes County Jail and charged with two third-degree felonies for possession of a controlled substance in penalty group 2 of 1-4 grams (THC oil and Adderall); a state jail felony for possession of marijuana; and class a misdemeanor for possession of Viagra (without an accompanying prescription).