BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON -- Two Texas men pleaded guilty Thursday to holding more than 160 pounds of marijuana in Turtlecreek Township this summer.
Armed with a search warrant and a tip, officials from multiple police agencies arrested Aurelio Morales Gamboa and Andy Cadena on June 18 in the Shadow Lake Mobile Home Village.
Inside, police found 162 pounds of marijuana in three duffel bags, said Warren County assistant prosecutor Gregory Clark. The drugs are worth about $80,000 in bulk or between $194,400 and $226,800 if sold by the pound, Mr. Clark said.
Both men pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of possession of marijuana before Common Pleas Judge Neil B. Bronson.
Mr. Cadena, 30, will be sentenced at a later date.
Mr. Gamboa, 38, was sentenced to one year in prison and a $5,000 fine immediately after his guilty plea. With credit for time served, he has about eight months left on his sentence.
Though a legal resident of the United States for 10 years, Mr. Gamboa is not a U.S. citizen and could be deported to Mexico because of his conviction, officials said.
Despite the plea agreement, Mr. Gamboa argued his innocence and begged the judge for probation.
"I came here to do a legal job and found myself in this embarrassing situation," Mr. Gamboa said through an interpreter. "I don't understand what's happening here. I am not a criminal."
He has a wife and six children to support in Texas, he said. A hard laborer all his life, he took an offer by Mr. Cadena to drive a van to Indiana for $300. The two then drove into Ohio without his knowledge, he said.
As his attorney, Jeffrey Witt, spoke on his behalf, Mr. Gamboa broke into tears.
"You know he's a poor man, he doesn't have money," Mr. Witt said. "He got mixed up with a bad situation."
Judge Bronson asked whether he still wanted to plead guilty. Under the plea agreement, Mr. Gamboa faced between one and five years in prison. If he were to go to trial, he could face an eight-year sentence.
Mr. Gamboa relented. "I understand this is the best for me, and I do it (through) my own free will," he said through an interpreter. Prosecutors plan to pursue a stiffer sentence for Mr. Cadena.
