Man Found Guilty of Drug Possession
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Mar 30, 2017, Comments Off
Courtesy Yanira Deleon,
The Office of the District Attorney reports a guilty verdict for Charles D. Tuttoilmondo Jr., 50, who was charged with possession of marijuana.
On December 12, 2012, a DPS Corporal of the Texas Highway Patrol Division detained a truck tractor towing a semi-trailer that was traveling northbound on US Highway 83 in Zapata, Texas. He informed the driver identified as Charles D. Tuttoilmondo Jr., that he was detained for an inspection under the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, Safety Inspection level III. The corporal asked the driver for proper documentation, but was unable to provide information on the semi-trailer. After further questioning and many inconsistencies, Tuttoilmondo gave verbal consent for the corporal and other troopers that arrived to the scene to search the inside of the semi-trailer and truck tractor. Upon searching the trailer, 18 white large nylon bags were found with fertilizer. Inside some of the bags of fertilizer, 152 bundles of marijuana wrapped in blue tape weighing at total of 1,559.60 pounds were discovered. Tuttoilmondo was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, a second-degree felony in the State of Texas.
The trial which took place before the 49th District Court Judge Joe Lopez in Zapata, Texas was heard by a jury over the course of three days, rendering their guilty verdict after two hours of deliberation. The jury assessed a punishment of eight years to serve.
District Attorney Isidro R. Alaniz, Assistant District Attorneys Pedro Garza and Paul Thomson prosecuted the case for the State.
