PUTNAM COUNTY, Ind. — A Florida man has been sentenced to 9 years in prison after Indiana State Police found 44 pounds of cocaine worth $1 million in his car during a Putnam County traffic stop.
Leonardo Hernandez, a 39-year-old man from Miami, Florida, was sentenced Thursday in Putnam County court after pleading guilty to felony cocaine possession in April.
The charge against Hernandez stems from a May 2022 traffic stop conducted by state police troopers on an interstate in Putnam County.
According to ISP, a state trooper stopped a semi-truck for a routine compliance inspection around 4 p.m. on May 26, 2022, on eastbound Interstate 70 near mile marker 37 in Putnam County.
After speaking with the driver, later identified as Hernandez, and a passenger, ISP said the trooper got suspicious and searched the vehicle. The search turned up what appeared to be 44 pounds of cocaine.
Hernandez’ semi-truck was on its way from Phoenix to Indianapolis, ISP said at the time. State police estimated the street value of the drugs at $1 million.
The trooper subsequently arrested both Hernandez and the passenger in the truck, identified as 25-year-old Rolando Bermudez Acevedo of Orlando. Both men were then booked into Putnam County Jail.
At the time of their arrests, both men faced charges of dealing a narcotic drug and possession of a narcotic drug.
In April 2023, Bermudez Acevedo pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and was sentenced to 2.5 years, with credit given for time served. Now, Hernandez has received his sentence as well.
After pleading guilty to possession of cocaine on April 6, Hernandez was sentenced Thursday to 9 years in Indiana prison.
According to court records, Hernandez has already spent 377 days in jail which means he has accrued 503 days of jail credit.