Downriver Man Gets Prison Time In Nebraska For Hauling 730 Pounds Of Pot
LINCOLN, Neb. (WWJ/AP) - A 41-year-old Downriver man has been sent to prison in Nebraska for helping to haul 730 pounds of marijuana.
Online court records say Marcel Bud, of Taylor, Michigan, on Thursday was sentenced to two to four years behind bars after earlier pleading guilty to attempted possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. Prosecutors had lowered the charge and dropped another in exchange for Bud's plea.
Bud was initially arrested around noon on Nov. 4, 2013 after being stopped at a weigh-station on Interstate 80, just east of Lincoln. During a routine inspection, Nebraska State Patrol troopers discovered that Bud had a warrant out for his arrest for failing to appear in Lincoln County.
While Bud was detained, his 50-year-old co-driver -- Julio Pena Sanchez, of La Palma, California -- was allowed to continue on.
After further investigation revealed the same truck was used to transport drugs in 2011, troopers caught up with Sanchez at a truck stop on I-80 in Lincoln and conducted a probable cause search on the semitrailer, during which approximately 730 pounds of "high-grade" marijuana were discovered. The drugs, which have an estimated street value of $2.5 million, were hidden among boxes of produce. Sanchez was taken into custody at that time.
Sanchez, who was sentenced last July to two to four years in prison, could reportedly face deportation after serving his sentence.
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