Jessica Reno thought she had all her bases covered when she hit the road that Sunday evening.
She’d "borrowed" a license plate from a friend after hers supposedly blew off six days earlier.
But this Florida woman’s jaw-dropping traffic stop left deputies stunned by what they found.
Wrong license plate leads to bigger problems
On June 15, Jessica Reno, 34, was cruising down Citation Boulevard in Ormond Beach behind the wheel of her white Chevrolet pickup when eagle-eyed Flagler County deputies spotted trouble.
The plate was registered to a Ford vehicle, not the Chevrolet she was driving.
Deputies also noticed her seatbelt was "dangling near the door," which is "consistent with the driver not properly wearing" their seatbelt.
When deputies activated their emergency lights and sirens, Reno didn’t immediately pull over, instead continuing to drive for about 30 seconds before stopping.
She explained she was "on the phone with her daughter" and apologized for being "in a rush".
But that excuse was just the beginning of Reno’s problems.
During the traffic stop, Reno admitted she didn’t have a valid driver’s license and had an upcoming court date for previous driving violations.
She told deputies her real license plate had "blew off" her truck approximately six days earlier, so she borrowed one from a friend’s vehicle.
The traffic violations were bad enough, but what happened next caught everyone off guard.
Deputies discover disturbing stash during jail booking
After being arrested for driving with a suspended license, expired registration, and using someone else’s license plate, Reno was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.
Before being booked, deputies asked Reno if she had any contraband on or inside her person, and she said she did not.
That turned out to be a dangerous lie.
During the booking process, which included an X-ray machine search, deputies discovered a sock hidden inside Reno’s genitalia.
What deputies pulled out of that sock made their jaws drop: six capped syringes and a bag of white powder.
Reno didn’t try to deny what it was. She admitted straight up that the substance was fentanyl.
Testing confirmed her confession.
The drug weighed about 3 grams total with the packaging.
Reno’s story keeps changing
Deputies asked Reno about the hidden stash. At first, she played dumb.
But later, she admitted the real reason: "she was afraid to say anything because she did not want to get ‘sick’".
Reno also revealed she had purchased the fentanyl earlier that same day.
Her admission revealed the desperate lengths drug addicts will go to avoid withdrawal symptoms, even risking serious additional criminal charges.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly didn’t mince words about Reno’s deception tactics.
"Between trying to pass off someone else’s license plate as her own and not telling deputies about the fentanyl she had hidden inside of her, this woman did a lot of things to try to trick law enforcement, but she was unsuccessful," Sheriff Staly said.
Charges stack up fast
What started with a wrong license plate spiraled into serious felony territory.
Now Reno’s looking at driving with a suspended license, using someone else’s plate, smuggling drugs into jail, fentanyl possession, and drug paraphernalia charges.
She’s stuck in the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility with bond set at $11,000.
Reno’s case shows just how desperate addicts get to avoid getting sick from withdrawal.
She risked serious prison time trying to sneak drugs past trained officers who’ve seen every trick in the book.
Sheriff Staly’s seen plenty of stunts, but even he had to shake his head at this one.
A simple license plate swap could’ve gotten her a ticket and a court date. Instead, she’s facing years behind bars.
The whole mess proves that deputies can’t take any traffic stop for granted.
You never know if you’re pulling over someone with expired tags or someone packing fentanyl in places you’d rather not think about.
