Police1 Staff Report
(LUBBOCK, Texas) -- A jury has sentenced a former Abernathy police officer to more than four months in jail for possession of marijuana that was found in the car he was driving during a DWI stop.
On Oct. 17 Benjamin Buono, 27, was fined $1,500 in addition to the 135-day jail term after a two-hour jury deliberation, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported.
Artie Aguilar, Buono’s attorney, said his client is now considering an appeal.
“Ben certainly respects the decision of the jury. I certainly share Ben’s view,” Aguilar told the Journal. “I have given Ben his options regarding appeal. It’s a sad day for Ben’s career.”
Buono was stopped on Feb. 23 on suspicion of drunk driving by a Lubbock-Cooper school district police officer who said Buono was driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
Officer Enrique Saldana charged Buono with driving while intoxicated after he failed a field sobriety test. He was fired shortly after.
Buono was not driving his own car and maintains that the marijuana is not his, the Journal reported.
The court has yet to set a date for the DWI charges.