A Wendover man facing felony drug charges made his initial appearance in 3rd District Court on Tuesday after he allegedly supplied marijuana cupcakes consumed by students at Wendover High School.
Rojelio Guadalupe Cornejo, 34, is charged with second-degree felony distribute, offer or arrange to distribute a controlled substance, third-degree felony possession with intent to distribute a Class C substance, third-degree felony cause or permit a child or vulnerable adult to be exposed to a controlled substance and misdemeanor use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
Wendover City police were contacted by Wendover High School on Aug. 24 on a report that several students possessed marijuana on school grounds, according to a probable cause statement. A freshman at the school had brought several homemade cupcakes to the school that were allegedly laced or contaminated with pot, the school district told police.
The freshman student was interviewed by police, in the presence of a parent, and told police they had acquired the cupcakes from Cornejo, the statement said. Police reviewed the student’s phone and found several text messages between the student and Cornejo.
In the text messages, Cornejo told the student he had marijuana and planned to make cupcakes with the drug inside, the probable cause statement said. Including in the text was a picture of cake batter with a green, leafy substance with a caption that said, “Making cupcakes for my coworkers they don’t know the secret recipe though” and another picture of completed cupcakes.
A second set of texts included Cornejo asking the student not to say they received the marijuana contaminated cupcakes from him, according to the probable cause statement. The student told police they had seen marijuana at Cornejo’s home before but Cornejo claimed it was for medicinal purposes and legal.
Wendover City police requested a urine sample from the student, which tested positive for THC, the ingredient that creates the high from marijuana, the statement said.
Cornejo’s home was searched and police found an ounce of marijuana and several items of drug paraphernalia, according to the probable cause statement.
Wendover City police interviewed Cornejo, who admitted to supplying marijuana to the student on several occasions, who was a minor, the statement said. He also admitted to baking marijuana cupcakes for his coworkers and knew the student had taken several and consumed at least one of them.
During his initial appearance in 3rd District Court on Tuesday, Cornejo told the court he would hire an attorney and a roll call hearing was scheduled for Oct. 31 at 1:30 p.m. before Judge Robert Adkins.