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Failure to communicate may have come too late for heroin suspect
A 43-year-old drug-dealing suspect encountered a failure to communicate in court Monday but might have been better off it he had failed to converse a bit Saturday morning instead.
After all, it was an attempt to communicate -- texting -- that initially attracted Gregorio Paniagua-Garcia to Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Simmons, who reported he could clearly see the suspect texting as he drove along Interstate 70 near the 42-mile marker, a mile east of Cloverdale.
And although he appeared about to be getting off with a warning for texting while driving, Paniagua-Garcia consented without hesitation to a search of his car, stating "Yeah, go ahead," according to the probable cause affidavit filed in Putnam Superior Court.
A subsequent search of the suspect's Mitsubishi Galant by Deputy Simmons' K-9 unit Bo revealed 86.5 ounces, or approximately 5.4 pounds of heroin with a reported street value of $250,000, according to police. It was neatly divided into eight packages and hidden in the vehicle's "donut" spare tire in the trunk of the car.
That led to the arrest of Paniagua-Garcia on two Level 2 felony charges of dealing in heroin, including one enhanced by the circumstance of doing it within the physical presence of a child younger than 18 (a four-month-old).
The suspect was also placed on federal hold in the case for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), awaiting possible federal prosecution for harboring an estimated quarter-million-dollars worth of heroin.
The two felony charges each carry a sentencing range of 10-30 years in the Department of Correction and up to a fine of $10,000 if Paniagua-Garcia is convicted.
Although the suspect did not seem to have a language barrier in dealing with Deputies Simmons and Craig Sibbitt at the scene of the stop on I-70 about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, he asked for an interpreter in his appearance before Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges Monday afternoon.
The inconsistency wasn't lost on Judge Bridges.
"Why is it you understood the deputy on the interstate and now you don't understand me?" Bridges asked.
The suspect made no audible reply as he stood just to the right of the judge as a state-approved Spanish-speaking interpreter was provided via speaker phone.
"If I find out later that the taxpayers had to pay (unnecessarily) for this interpreter at $5 a minute, we're going to have another hearing and you're going to pay for it," Judge Bridges warned.
Nonetheless, the suspect readily answered simple questions posed in English by Judge Bridges as the hearing continued, including when asked for his middle name, as well responding to simple commands in English about where to stand and how to respond to the interpreter.
The judge entered a not-guilty plea for Paniagua-Garcia, who indicated he will consult with his family about hiring an attorney.
Paniagua-Garcia said he works in construction and now lives in Columbus, Ohio, but still carries a Michigan driver's license that shows his residence as in Detroit.
His wife and infant child were traveling with him when the car was stopped Saturday, reportedly en route from Denver, Colo., to Ohio.
Judge Bridges ordered Paniagua-Garcia held in the Putnam County Jail on $30,000 cash bond with a pretrial conference set for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 12.