Oct. 27, 2010

“BE COOL,” DEFENDANT TOLD DRIVER, AS TROOPER STOPPED HER WITH 650 POUNDS OF POT

TOPEKA, KAN. – Lorenzo Benton, 37, Inkster, Mich., has been sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 650 pounds of marijuana, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
In his plea, Benton admitted he helped arrange for 659 pounds of marijuana to be loaded into a horse trailer for transport from Phoenix to Detroit. The trip ended in Kansas, though, on May 24, 2009. A Kansas Highway Patrol officer stopped the load on Interstate 70 in Wabaunsee County, Kan.

Benton was riding in another vehicle accompanying the load. He used a cell phone to call the driver of the load when the trooper stopped her. “Be cool,” Benton told her.

Co-defendants in the case include:
Andrew Rutherford, who was sentenced to 108 months.
Frank Lewis, who was sentenced to 188 months.
Karen Hutchinson, who was sentenced to four years supervised release.
Jamie Bell, who was sentenced to four years supervised release.
Marcel Pearl, who is set to be sentenced Nov. 10, 2010.

Grissom commended the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard for their work on the case.