Prosecutors dropped charges Monday against a North Carolina man arrested with more than $43,000 and a stolen pistol in his car after Arkansas State Police misplaced drug evidence.
Deputy prosecutor Katie Smith withdrew the charges against Elias Cardenas, 25, of Mebane, N.C., after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson refused to delay the bench trial, which was to begin the same day.
Smith told the judge that police officials said they needed a little more time to find the suspected contraband, a misdemeanor amount of marijuana. She said it had been returned to the police property room after being tested at the state Crime Laboratory.
Defense attorney David Cannon opposed any further trial delay, which he said would have been the second for prosecutors since Cardenas' arrest just more than a year ago.
The previous delay was granted because not all of the prosecution witnesses had come to court, he said. Cardenas faced up to six years in prison on a felony charge of theft by receiving and misdemeanor counts of marijuana possession, weapons possession, reckless driving and speeding.
According to an arrest report, police Sgt. Eric Agee stopped Cardenas for driving 99 mph in a 70 mph zone on westbound Interstate 30 just before the Saline County line at 10:12 p.m. Sept. 15, 2015. Cardenas told the trooper that he was on his way to California for a vacation.
Cardenas declined to let troopers search his vehicle, the report said. But Agee, who was suspicious that Cardenas had been drinking because of his bloodshot eyes, performed field sobriety tests that indicated the defendant was intoxicated so he was arrested, according to the report.
When Cardenas' passenger got out of the car, Agee reported, the man, unnamed in the report, had suspected marijuana on his pants, and a search of the vehicle turned up a jar containing about an ounce of suspected marijuana under the passenger's seat.
A further search of the vehicle turned up two plastic bags and a box that, together, contained $42,980. A 9mm Glock handgun was found in the passenger side door, according to the report. Cardenas had $82 in his pockets, and he took responsibility for all of the items in the vehicle, the report said.
Court filings show that Cardenas' attorney had been preparing to challenge the legality of the search if the case had gone to trial.
Prosecutors claim the money came from drug-dealing, citing its proximity in the vehicle to the suspected marijuana and the pistol that was found. They have filed a forfeiture petition to collect it, with a trial over ownership of the money scheduled for next Monday before Circuit Judge Tim Fox.
Metro on 09/20/2016