Sentencing set in money laundering case

Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Eury David-Rodriguez

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.

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  • You know whose pocket it goes into--did you follow the campaign.

    "Suspicious indicators"--Black, out of state plate. Gotta be Deputy Simmons again.

    I defy any of you to produce your folding currency and have it pass a drug dog sniff. Currency is the only medium drug dealers use and all money has been exposed to drugs in sufficient quantity, even a dollar bill rolled up and used a single time to snort cocaine, to get a drug dog to "discover" on it.

    -- Posted by reckman on Wed, Nov 10, 2010, at 8:44 AM
  • reckman, why don't you becme a police office and not arrest anyone for political kindness?

    -- Posted by GRNT on Wed, Nov 10, 2010, at 8:48 AM
  • I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHERE THIS MONEY WILL GO ALSO. I DO THINK WE ALL KNOW BECAUSE WHERE IT HAS WENT IN THE PAST.DON'T GET STOPPED W/ A LARGE AMT. OF MONEY IN YOUR CAR, THE COUNTY WILL USE IT FOE ANOTHER SUV OR A TRUCK THAT GETS 10 MILE TO A GALLON OF GAS.

    -- Posted by MORTY3 on Wed, Nov 10, 2010, at 8:59 AM
  • Not every person at the jail has a take home police vehicle yet. So I bet the Deputies will get escalades and the older SUV's will trickle down to the jail for the JAILERS to take home. Oh, and yes,if it was Dwight, all the guy had to do was have dark skin, or scratch his arm. Insta-suspicious activity. Oh, and if the guy is transferring money, WHY REDUCE HIS BOND? I'm sure he has friends that have more of this money that will go directly to bailing him out. Oh Putnam County makes my brain hurt.

    -- Posted by Mercidos on Wed, Nov 10, 2010, at 5:29 PM
  • Dear GRNT:

    You mean not arrest them "out" of political kindness or for the crime of "political kindness?"

    Point is, this country has over two million people in jail, the majority for minor drug crimes. (And, by the way, the majority of them Black. The last Dept. of Justice figures I saw showed 1 out of 3 Black males between the ages of 16 & 26 were either in jail, on probation or parole or awaiting trial.) This state has not built a new prion in over 20 years, that I know of, coupled with the "throw the book at him" attitude that has led the legislature to implement longer sentences pandering to the electorate. The result is severe overcrowding and the placement of minor drug offender, etc. in the same institutions with Murders, etc. (Go on the DOC website and search to see what crimes the inmates are serving time for in any particular institution for.)

    Many people writing in here often express wonder why a repeat offender did not "learn his lesson" while in jail the last time. That is because gangs run our prisons and the only lessons an inmate learns is that the administration is at best impotent, busying themselves with petty operation matters and hanging on for a pension. The guards (many cop "wananbees" who could not pass the test) are usually aligned with one of the gangs and assist the gang members when they need to carry out retribution or smuggling--say, by leaving a cell door conveniently unlocked so someone can be battered--and racism.

    Finally, why no comment on why the people arrested on I-70 always seem to be Black or Hispanic with out-of-state plates and a simple speeding stop morphs (10 miles over the limit) into a full-blown search?

    Think about how many times that is happening and it does not culminate with an arrest. Minorities stopped every night, subjected to that treatment, knowing the reason, and then released after hours of delay and the indignity of having your family sniffed by a dog. Someday, a Federal Judge is going to say the same thing with the full force and effect of the law and then all you taxpayers can kiss your 1,200 sq. ft. ranches "Goodbye." Who will you blame then?

    -- Posted by reckman on Thu, Nov 11, 2010, at 9:33 AM
  • Hey Recker, I mean "Reckman". You don't work here anymore and you never lived here. Worry about Marion County.

    -- Posted by coltercity on Fri, Nov 12, 2010, at 12:16 PM
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