Sarasota deputies find pound of methamphetamine in couple's hotel room

SARASOTA -- Deputies arrested a man and a woman after the man was caught selling methamphetamine to a confidential informant and a search of their hotel room yielded about a pound of meth, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

A confidential informant met with Yuri D. Stasiuk, 48, on Dec. 15 to purchase an ounce of meth at the Best Western located at 6600 Tamiami Trail in Sarasota, according to an arrest report. The informant traded prerecorded currency for the meth and Stasiuk was immediately arrested.

He told deputies that he was staying at the Sarasea Resort at 6760 Sarasea Circle in Siesta Key. Investigators executed a search warrant at the specified room at the location and found $8,790 in cash, a large plastic container of meth inside a safe and smaller amounts of meth throughout the room. Detectives seized just over a pound of methamphetamine total.

Christine Oriold, 42, had signed the rental agreement with the hotel, according to the report.

Stasiuk, who at the time of his arrest was out on bond for an April arrest for possession of 2.29 pounds of meth, is charged with trafficking in methamphetamine. Oriold is charged with trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of alprazolam and possession of drug paraphernalia.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Sarasota deputies find pound of methamphetamine in couple's hotel room ."