A Texas resident who was running marijuana through Carlton County -- with a caricature of the fake saint of drug smugglers hanging from his rear view mirror -- received a suspended sentenced in April.
Jorge Gutierrez-Salazar, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of felony third-degree possession of a controlled substance on April 21 as part of a plea agreement and was sentenced the same day. Salazar was given a 21-month prison sentence, all of which was suspended, and will spend three years on supervised probation.
He also was sentenced to 107 days in jail and given credit for 107 days served. Salazar was set to be extradited to Texas and must contact Carlton County probation when and if he is released from custody in that state.
Salazar was pulled over by a State Patrol officer on Jan. 5 and after the officer noticed a caricature of the Patron Saint of drug smugglers "Jesus Malverde" hanging from the defendant's rearview mirror, he called for the assistance of a drug detection dog. The dog found two large bales of marijuana inside luggage in the trunk. A field test determined the amount of the drug to be at least 62 pounds.
Salazar admitted to officers that the drugs belonged to him and claimed he was bringing the drugs to Duluth from Texas as a "favor to a sinister drug cartel he was familiar with."
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The Pine Journal of Cloquet, Minn., and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
