PANAMA CITY — A Jacksonville man was arraigned in federal court Wednesday on charges police caught him with two firearms and a copious amount of marijuana and ecstasy during the height of Spring Break.
Christopher Desean Session, 30, appeared in the U.S. Northern District of Florida Courthouse to hear charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, intent to distribute controlled substances and of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. He could face up to 35 years in federal prison.
Session initially was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. March 14, according to Panama City Beach Police Department arrest records. He was driving a black convertible Ford Mustang in the 1100 block of Front Beach Road when PCBPD stopped him because one of his passengers was sitting on the exterior of the moving car, police reported. From inside the car, though, police said they could smell the strong odor of cannabis and began a search.
Officers reported they found 330 grams — or about 11.6 ounces — of marijuana and another 16 grams prepackaged for sale, 132 ecstasy pills, drug paraphernalia, $3,304 in various places, two handguns, ammunition magazines and a short-barreled AK-47 rifle. One of the pistols also had been reported stolen, according to police.
Session claimed everything in the car other than the firearms, police said. He and his two passengers denied knowledge of the guns, though the reportedly stolen handgun was in the glove box under some of the money. However, police later found photos of Session posing with the guns and drugs on a phone found in the car, police reported.
One of the guns was traced to a manufacturer in the eastern European country of Serbia. Another originated in Massachusetts, according to court records.
Session, who appeared shackled in court Wednesday, remains in custody. He also is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His previous convictions were also firearm-related, including an arrest for possession of a short-barreled shotgun, court records indicated.
A trial was set for July 20.