Minn. man sentenced in one of state’s largest cocaine busts
By Bobbi Mlynar
Friday, February 27, 2009
A Minnesota man arrested in one of the state’s largest cocaine busts has been sentenced to 235 months in federal prison.
According to information from the U.S. Attorney’s office, Nestor Ramirez, 28, of New Brighton, Minn., was convicted in August 2008 on one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
Ramirez was arrested Oct. 17, 2007, in a bust in Franklin County.
The Lyon County Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit — Deputy Cory Doudican and Tito — and Osage County deputies were among officers from several agencies called to assist in the arrest, which took place on Interstate Highway 35, about six miles north of Ottawa.
A search yielded about 550 pounds of cocaine valued between $4.5 and $5 million from a hidden compartment in a 2006 Chevrolet box van being used to transport the drugs.
Ramirez was a passenger in the 2006 van, which was marked with a decal saying it belonged to “All States Upholstery,” according to Jim Cross, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas.
Cross said that Franklin County Deputy Carl Bentley had stopped the truck because he had information from the Georgia State Police about a traffic stop the day before that had resulted in the seizure of more than $3 million in cash. The money was hidden in an electrically operated hidden compartment of a truck marked with an “All States Upholstery” decal.
“The information from the George State Police indicated there were several such trucks operating for the purpose of carrying cash and drugs,” Cross said.
“The defendants told the Franklin County Sheriff’s officer they were returning from doing an upholstery job at a Denny’s restaurant in Oklahoma City, which was similar to what the occupants in the truck in Georgia had said to the officers.”
The officers in Kansas found a toggle switch device hidden in a tool box. The switch plugged into the truck’s receiver hitch electrical outlet and activated the hidden compartment, he said.
The driver of the truck, co-defendant Manuel Barraza-Martinez, 22, of Richfield, Minn., was sentenced earlier this month to 151 months in federal prison.
Happiness09 (anonymous) says...
Didn't anybody tell these guys we're in a recession?
February 27, 2009 at 3:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )