Man gets prison, fine for 2 kilos of cocaine

GULFPORT -- A man found with 2 kilos of cocaine in a Gulfport traffic stop has been fined $2,000 and sentenced to prison for 46 months.

Isidro Duran Valerio, 32, of Austin, Texas, also is subject to being deported. Federal court records show he was in the U.S. without permission when he was arrested Dec. 18 in Gulfport.

U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden sentenced him Monday on a guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

A Gulfport police officer had pulled over Valerio in a traffic stop on Interstate 10, reporting Valerio was driving so slowly that eastbound cars were passing him and he was following too close to another vehicle.

Valerio had no driver's license but had an ID card from the South Texas Detention Center, a holding facility for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A criminal background check showed he had been found driving a pickup with $67,000 hidden in the back in Harris County, Texas, in November 2014.

Valerio consented to a search of his vehicle Dec. 18 and the cocaine was found under the windshield cowling.

His attorney had wanted evidence suppressed from the traffic stop. The attorney didn't dispute the discovery of drugs, but claimed the search and seizure were illegal because there was no probable cause for a traffic stop.

Ozerden reviewed video from the officer's patrol car Nov. 6 and denied the motion. Valerio pleaded guilty a week later.

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 10:23 PM with the headline "Man gets prison, fine for 2 kilos of cocaine ."