He ‘does a lot of drugs,’ cop says of memory-challenged convict

A Key West man sentenced to a combined 4 1/2 years in prison in two separate grand theft auto cases told police early in their investigation that he had trouble keeping the details of his alleged crimes straight because “he does a lot of drugs,” according to court document.

Monroe County Circuit Judge Mark Jones sentenced Timberlen Terrell, 19, to two years in prison on Oct. 24 for grand theft of automobile and felony possession of marijuana. About a month earlier, Circuit Judge Luis Garcia sentenced Terrell to 30 months in prison on burglary and grand theft auto charges.

Terrell is accused of stealing a 2016 Corvette Stingray from a Key West Chevrolet dealership on Christmas Day, 2017, and a van, computer equipment, cash and other items from Key Largo Baptist Church in the Upper Keys in early October of that year.

He was arrested while driving the van in Holmes Beach, Florida, on Oct. 11, 2017, on a misdemeanor pot possession charge.

Miami-Dade police found the Corvette four days after it was reported stolen from the Niles Sales and Service auto dealership on North Roosevelt Boulevard.

The tag on the Stingray belonged to the stolen van, according to court documents.

Terrell was arrested on an unrelated felony marijuana possession charge by Key West police in February after he was caught at the Courtyard Marriott on North Roosevelt Boulevard with a joint and 28.3 grams of marijuana in his backpack, said Larry Kahn, spokesman for the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office.

Terrell reportedly told police he was at the hotel to apply for a job, Kahn said.

Key West Detective Marcus Del Valle questioned Terrell while he was in county jail on the possession charge how the van’s license plate and a SunPass transponder stolen from another Key Largo location ended up with the Corvette.

“Terrell said he’s not sure,” Del Valle wrote in his report. “He does a lot of drugs.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2018 at 3:26 PM.