Sentencing set in money laundering case
GREENCASTLE -- A New Jersey man has entered a guilty plea to a Class C felony charge of money laundering, and will be sentenced in Putnam County Circuit Court on Jan. 13.
Eury David-Rodriguez, 24, of Pleasantville, N.J. was apprehended.
A jury trial had been set for Nov. 17, but David-Rodriguez opted to change his plea.
David-Rodriguez was arrested June 24 after being stopped on westbound I-70 in Cloverdale. Court records said a vehicle he was driving was clocked by officers doing 80 mph in a 70 mph speed zone.
According to court records, a narcotics detection K9 unit was called to the scene when David-Rodriguez began exhibiting "suspicious indicators."
Officers searched David-Rodriguez's vehicle, and discovered $95,000 in cash in a false compartment. When the drug detection dog sniffed the currency, court records said, he immediately sat down -- a positive alert of the odor of narcotics.
David-Rodriguez spent several days in jail before his $20,000 cash only bond was reduced, bond was posted and he was released. He was required to sign a waiver of extradition as a condition of the bond reduction.
Greencastle attorney Darrell Felling is representing David-Rodriguez.
A passenger in David-Rodriguez's vehicle, 41-year-old Israel Ramos Ortega of Philadelphia, was initially charged with Class C felony money laundering. Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter said David-Rodriguez "took all the credit" for the money found in the vehicle.
"(David-Rodriguez) stood up, said it was his and that it was being laundered for drugs," Bookwalter said. "He said the passenger didn't know anything about it."
The charge against Ortega was dismissed on Nov. 3.
By definition, money laundering is when money gained through illegal activity is transported and put into circulation.
The fact that a drug detection dog alerted to the vehicle gave the state probable cause to believe the large amount of cash located in it was associated with drug trafficking.
David-Rodriguez could be sentenced to a maximum of eight years in prison.