A 37-year-old Arizona man was sentenced this morning to 12 years in prison for possessing 270 pounds of marijuana.
In December Eleazar Murrieta-Nieblas was convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana eight ounces or more, both felonies, according to a Weld County District Attorney’s media release.
On Dec. 12, 2009, Murrieta-Nieblas was pulled over by a Colorado State Patrol trooper on I-76 for a traffic violation, prosecutors said.
“During the stop, the officer discovered four large duffle bags of marijuana in the vehicle,” the DA’s office said.
Murrieta-Nieblas drove the pot from Arizona, heading to Fort Morgan, where “he was to leave the vehicle unlocked in a motel parking lot overnight so another party could unload the drugs for further distribution,” according to police reports.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
