Sidney High student charged with dealing marijuana

A hearing for a 19-year-old Sidney man accused of selling marijuana was called off Thursday afternoon after his attorney met with the prosecution.

Zachary Borges, a Sidney High School senior, is next scheduled to appear in Cheyenne County Court on May 28 at 1:30 p.m. for a status hearing. Borges is represented by Sidney lawyer Donald Miller, who was out of the office on Friday and unavailable for comment.

Borges was arrested Sept. 4 after an investigation by the Sidney Police Department and is charged with delivery/intent to deliver controlled substance, a Class III felony.

According to court documents, Borges was arrested last fall after a quarter ounce of marijuana was discovered in his vehicle.

His arrest came after he allegedly agreed through Facebook messages to sell the marijuana to a police officer posing as a fellow Sidney High student.

A probable cause affidavit includes a transcript of the conversation. In the document, Borges reportedly said an eighth ounce of cannabis would cost $50 and a quarter ounce would be $100.

A time and location was also set to make the transaction.

When Sidney Police officer Jim Bush arrived at the predetermined site, he conducted a traffic stop on Borge's parked truck, according to the affidavit.

"I approached [Borge's] vehicle and immediately smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from his vehicle," Bush wrote in the document. "I asked [Borges] where it was, he reached for the glove box and then quit and looked at me again."

Eventually, he handed over the substance to the office, according to the court documents.

"I have known through experience and training that it was marijuana," Bush wrote. "I then asked [Borges] to exit the vehicle."

After Borges was arrested, he said he was only in high school and wanted to contact his parents, but police reminded him he was 18 [at the time of the arrest] and an adult, according to the affidavit. Borges was a member of the Red Raiders' wrestling team this past season.

In an interview at the police station, Borges told Bush he had only sold marijuana twice in the past, the document states.

However, when Bush returned Borges' phone to him to call a family member, the police officer said there were messages from others seeking marijuana.

"[Borges] turned on his phone and had several messages from different kids wanting marijuana," the affidavit reads.

Police were initially tipped off that Borges was allegedly selling cannabis after the parent of a Sidney High student had contacted them. The parent reported she had posed as her teenager in a Facebook conversation with Borges, during which he agreed to sell marijuana.

Borges is free on a $25,000 bond.