Rashad Watson, 33, faces separate federal and Ohio cases after an August traffic stop on Interstate 80. Cleveland.com reported that authorities allege he offered a Portage County sheriff’s deputy $5,000 to let him leave, and that a loaded gun was found in his SUV.
Different allegations in federal and state court
The federal case concerns alleged firearm possession by a person with a felony history. In Portage County Common Pleas Court, Watson faces bribery and gun charges, according to the report. He pleaded not guilty in the state case; the allegations have not been resolved.
The distinction matters because the reported bribery charge is in the Ohio case, not the federal one. Ohio law defines bribery to include offering a valuable thing or benefit to corruptly or improperly influence a public servant, and classifies the offense as a third-degree felony, under Ohio Revised Code § 2921.02. That statutory definition provides context for the state charge; it does not establish what happened during the stop.
What authorities say happened during the stop
Cleveland.com reported that Watson was driving from Cleveland toward Pittsburgh on August 14 when a deputy stopped his SUV near Freedom Township for speeding and illegal lane changes. The deputy asked about the smell of marijuana. Watson allegedly denied having weapons and refused to get out of the vehicle. He then told the deputy he had hidden marijuana in the center console and found a gun inside, before allegedly offering $5,000.
The weapon was loaded and had been reported stolen in Verona, Pennsylvania, in 2015, according to Cleveland.com. The reported theft date does not, by itself, establish how the gun reached the SUV or who possessed it in the intervening years.
Watson was charged in federal court and ordered held until a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday, November 12, the report said. In the Ohio case, he pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Michael Heffernan, declined to comment before the hearing, according to Cleveland.com.
A separate prior shooting case
The report also describes Watson’s earlier prison sentence in Pennsylvania. In 2014, he was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in connection with a shooting at an apartment complex in Carnegie, outside Pittsburgh, in which two men and a 2-week-old baby were wounded, Cleveland.com reported. That history is separate from the current allegations and does not determine their outcome.
The federal firearm allegation and the Ohio bribery and gun charges remain pending. Watson has pleaded not guilty in state court, and the allegations in both cases are not findings of guilt.
