Driver busted for having a gun

A truck driver who was arrested at the Pine Valley checkpoint pleaded guilty Tuesday to being a felon in possession of a handgun.

Terrance Deandre Ellison, 40, of San Di­ego, pleaded guilty on the day his prelimi­nary hearing was to start.

El Cajon Superior Court Judge Dan Lam­born set sentencing for Nov. 10.

Lamborn told Ellison he is expected to be placed on probation, but the maximum sentence is three years in state prison.

The judge said Ellison will likely be sen­tenced to credit for time served since his Aug. 17 arrest. The Glock handgun Ellison possessed was stolen, a prosecutor said.

Ellison has previously been convicted of four drug charges, according to the pros­ecutor, which made him a felon, barring him from possessing firearms.

The attorneys appeared remotely and Ellison was scene on a computer screen in court as most of the courts are closed due to the coronavirus.

At one point Ellison’s attorney, Patrick Kline, disappeared from the computer screen and the judge briefly halted the proceedings.

“He must have hit the wrong button,” said Lamborn.

A few minutes later, Kline appeared on a video screen and Lamborn said for the re­cord that he halted the proceedings while Kline was absent.

Ellison has a separate case in U.S. Dis­trict Court that alleges he possessed nine packages of methamphetamine when he went through the Calexico Point of Entry on May 29.

Ellison posted bond on that case and he was free when he went through the Pine Valley checkpoint on Aug. 17. No drugs were found then.

Ellison was indicted by a federal grand jury and is charged with knowingly im­porting methamphetamine in a Dodge Journey.

A narcotics dog alerted officers to the dashboard, where nine plastic packages of a substance believed to be meth were recovered.

The weight of the packages was 2.07 pounds, according to federal court records. A scale was found in his vehicle and El­lison told agents he used the scale to sell drugs.

Ellison has pleaded not guilty in his fed­eral case. He remains in jail without bail due to his federal hold on the other case.