A traffic stop in Coweta County turned into a felony arrest Monday afternoon after police found five pounds of cocaine inside the suspected speeder’s vehicle.

Just after 1 p.m., officers pulled over a gray Mercedes for speeding and a window tint violation on I-85, Grantville police Assistant Chief Cliff Schriefer told AJC.com. The driver was identified as Ulysses Bales Jr., 45, of Columbus.

He gave officers consent to search his car after police thought he was acting suspiciously, Bales said. The officers said they found the stash of cocaine in the car’s air intake along with hundreds of dollars in cash.

No other details were released. Schriefer said the incident report had not been completed as of Monday afternoon.

Bales was booked into the Coweta County jail on cocaine trafficking and speeding charges, according to online jail records.

He is a felon who has served four stints in Georgia prisons since 1993, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records. His time behind bars totals about 7½ years.

Ulysses Bales Jr. has completed four stints in Georgia prisons.

Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections

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Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections

His prior convictions all took place in Muscogee County and include counts of cocaine trafficking, cocaine possession and marijuana possession, GDC records show.

Bales remains in custody without bond.

In other news:

The shooting happened outside the Walmart at 5401 Fairington Road in Stonecrest.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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