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Staff Report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a turn of events coinciding with the scheduled end of his drug offender probation, 28-year-old Henry Maurice Hall Jr. found himself under arrest yesterday. He faces charges for possessing trafficking-level amounts of substitute cathinone.
The incident unfolded around 7:56 p.m. on May 22, when an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy pulled Hall over at the Maa & Paa Store located at 6410 SW 8th Avenue. The traffic stop was initiated due to illegal window tinting and Hall’s failure to wear a seatbelt.
According to the deputy, upon noticing the patrol car, Hall attempted to evade attention by swiftly maneuvering around other vehicles before parking and stepping out of his car, seemingly in an effort to distance himself from the approaching law enforcement.
The deputy further noted that Hall exhibited signs of considerable nervousness, and both he and his vehicle emitted a strong odor of marijuana.
Hall reportedly provided his medical marijuana card and said he had marijuana in a dispensary container; he gave deputies consent to inspect the container, and deputies reported that the label said it had expired in 2025. Hall reportedly said he had put new marijuana in the older container, which is not a legal way of packaging medical marijuana.
While another deputy was speaking with Hall, he reported that a bag containing a chunky white powdery substance dropped from Hall’s shorts onto the ground, and that deputy detained Hall in handcuffs.
The deputy also reported that Hall kicked at a receipt near his foot “in a clear effort to destroy and/or conceal the evidence” under a patrol car, and the deputy reportedly found another large chunk of the white substance inside the receipt.
The white substance tested positive for substitute cathinone (phenethylamine) and weighed a total of about 15 grams, above the trafficking threshold of 10 grams.
Post Miranda, Hall reportedly said he “froze,” and he said the substance was for personal use. He also admitted that he had not been wearing his seatbelt.
Hall has been charged with possession of trafficking quantities of phenethylamines, tampering with evidence, and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. He has 10 felony convictions (one violent) and six misdemeanor convictions; he has served one state prison sentence and was released in 2024. He is on drug offender probation that was scheduled to terminate on May 22, 2026. Judge Craig DeThomasis set bail at $18,500.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.