IAm someone who got busted with 48 lbs when I was 18. AMA

What did the butcher do when he caught you making off with 48lbs of his prime steak?

did he press charges?

Oops. It was weed. Should've proofread that

How much time did you do?

Actually only in there for roughly two months. Kept droppin bond down and got out. Ended up 3 yrs probation back home. Did 1.5 and got off on good conduct

That is ridiculously fortunate...

No kidding. But I felt like two years

Still more than you should've had to do, but yeah, glad you're not still locked up. I assume you're white?

Yes

Federal Probation Officer here. Glad to hear you got off early. 3 years really isn't that terrible in relation to trafficking. Coulda been worse. Best of luck to you on moving forward!

Thank you. Actually I have family that will be dealing with federal case. Isn't it a lot more relaxed then state charges?

As in the difference between state/federal probation? If so, then it depends on the state department. Some states are extremely lax. Officers are more social workers than law enforcement officers. Some states are way more law enforcement than social work.

With the federal system, I'd say we're 70/30 social work to law enforcement. But when our warrants are issued, out come the US Marshals. So it gets way more serious.

If you mean just the progression of a federal case through the courts, yes, it's generally more relaxed in that the courts are way less hectic, way more formal, and the professionalism is higher. The federal system has more services for those in need (mental health, drug treatment, etc) than most state systems/prisons. You'll also probably get a more fair shake than most state systems, as you'll have a pre-sentence report prepared that details your entire life. The positives can help reduce sentencing levels (admitting guilt, assisting law enforcement if needed, positive history of employment/education, etc). I believe it's a better system because they can devote more time and resources to the cases. And the federal public defenders are by far better than any single state public defender I've encountered.

I can agree to that. I had a public pretender oops I mean defender for my bond hearing. And he had one earring in and used the term" well this is all ifs and buts and candied nuts" I kinda tuned him out after that and bought a lawyer the second I had a chance.

I could understand dropping him, but turning him out? Maybe it's just me but pimping out a grown man cause he used a phrase you didn't like seems pretty harsh.

I guess what I'm trying to say is he didn't seem professional at all to me.

I think you missed the joke... you meant tuning, but said 'turning', which is akin to forcing him into prostitution in slang.

i.e. "I turnt that bitch out!"

I don't retract my statement. You know how much people pay for candied nuts these days?!?!

Would it have payed well?

50k. For that one run. Would've split half with my codriver

Why a codriver? Seems like a doubling of risk

The idea was to have that car running nonstop. You can make it across the country in roughly 48 hrs. It's like playing hot potato in the sense that you want it and give it away as quickly as possible. If one drives. Then you'll have to stop. Waste 12 hrs gettin a room. Sleeping. All that stuff

Plus paper trail.

Amen

What would you have done with the other half?

Got my sister braces. Paid off my car and saved up for college. It's kinda why I justified me doing it. I did smoke but I really wanted to be successful. Education with pilot license and going to college with drug money would've been fine if one day I was making over 100k a year legally

Was this your first time trafficking? Were you going to distribute it? If not how much were you paid to move that much?

My job was to get to point A to B then repeat. Was trying to get a plane up and running. Needed one run in a car to do it. I already had my pilot license

I guess that pilot licence are out Of reach now?

I have it. Still do. I can get recertified. But I'll put money that the FAA will be waiting wherever I land to check. Which is fine by me. I do wanna own a plane and fly again. It was such a blast. After I got busted and got out we found someone with a plane and we needed to make more cash to buy lawyers. So we did actually do a cross country trip. And well that was the most exhilarating thing to do!!! I Definately recommend to do it recreationally. Planes really aren't that expensive and it's just great to one day wake up and say "hey I wanna go eat lunch in Austin" and just go

Flying has always kind of been a dream of mine, not one I want to pursue professionally but more in a "go fly once every few months" type thing. Any chance you could give me a ballpark cost for licensure and a plane or plane rental?

Man if I were you. Get some books about you FAA flight test. Study it. The books don't cost much. Then hang out at your nearest small airfield. Get to know the people. You'd be surprised to see how many people will let you fly along. Get your feet wet.

When I was in school it was 72 an hour for instructor and 172 an hour for the plane. And the test is all based on how well you are with it. So get familiar with it and if you have money. Honestly buy yourself a plane. And just rent the instructor. That way the plane you fly for test is YOUR plane. And besides don't you wanna know that the instructor feels safe with you flying the exact same plane you will be flying?

Honestly buy yourself a plane.

Just buy a plane? And how does one afford that if they're not, pardon the expression, a drug runner?

You can find planes that are seriously as cheap as a car. It's really not as bad. A nice Cessna 152 can be roughly 30k. Of course newer models can run up to 100k but still hire a qualified FAA mechanic and the engine will run good

I have problems with my eyes. Do you know IF that would stop me? I have always dreamed about taking a licence for it.

Depends on the problems. You don't need perfect vision at all.

I might make it through :)

Go for it!!

Yea I'm almost positive that you need 20/20 but I could be wrong. It might just be for commercial.

So did you smoke 2lbs during your drive before you got caught?

It was 43 lbs but they count packaging. So it was 48. And no I didn't smoke any of it. Was waiting for that when I got to my destination :(

What if you put some helium filled baloons in the package?

Dude....... Fuck why didn't I think of that

Dude as someone who used to smoke a lot in high school (joined the military after so had to stop) reading your story and comments makes me feel good man. Although I don't smoke anymore, I'm still a weed advocate and I'm glad that your sentence was reduced. Hearing how you turned your life around is great man, it makes me wish that a friend of mine would do the same thing but unfortunately this kid is long gone. It's sad because we used to be best friends. We'd hang out all the time, smoke and write music. The dude had talent. Unfortunately he got involved with the wrong people and the wrong drugs and now he's lost. I know that I'm rambling my friend I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed reading this story's happy ending.

Thanks man I really appreciate it. I didn't think so many questions would be asked. It's almost a year since I been off probation but I never really look back at that moment. I made some stupid post about how this guy was burning a desk in my electrician school and someone mentioned I should do this. It was really fulfilling to think back at that and answer questions with the perspective I have now opposed to the guy that was just gettin out of jail. And about your friends I feel you. Ever since I been out and living back in my home town I feel almost like the little piglett to all my friends. They still do drugs and drink. I drink myself but I have no desire to get in trouble. So when I see them bout to do something that I know they'll regret I'm always the first to tell them. At first I got the whole " oh your just being scared " act but after awhile I think they finally started listenin. Now all of then are finally going to college at 23 and I'm proud of them. I'm not saying I'm the one who pushed then in the right direction. But I Definitely wasn't the bad influence a lot of other people were. I'm sorry bout your lost friend tho. Don't give out hope tho. Cuz sometimes you really have to crash and burn before you can rise ya know?

What did you end up being charged with after getting a lawyer etc?

Conspiracy to deliver, distribute, and manufacture marijuana

How were you hiding them?

Trunk with foodsaver bags. Now that I think about it it was completely dumb. Nice rental with Cali plates headed eastbound.

Never drive a nice car if you can't get the speed to escape with it.

It was a Mercedes c300. But in Wyoming. I had no clue where to run . You could see any car in a 5 mile radius lol

"manufacture"

I'm chillin with my homie in San Marcus. Excuse the misspelling

How did you get that much weed? And how did your get caught?

The article kinda explains how. And the police highway patrol ( K-9 unit btw) said I was following too close behind a semi

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I just graduated. Class of 09. Was gonna start out at community college when I got a phone call from my half sisters husband. I've never met my half sister. But we were Facebook friends. He said he had a job offer. Flew me out of Texas and there I was in Times Square. I've never left houston so being out there was just crazy. I find out that through my Facebook and MySpace posts and pics he sees I'm a weed enthusiast. Asks me to join him to smuggle. He's been doing it for 2 years. He was putting me through pilot training so we could be up in the air. I felt it was good cuz I was getting an education while making a lot of money. My family has always been lower class so I just wanted to be comfortable. We need one run in a car to get up in the air when I got stopped at around 7 in the morning in laramie county. It was the most weirdest feeling ever seeing the lights go on. It was my first run. And I celebrated my 19th birthday in jail. Still had to drive more once I got out in order to pay a 15k lawyer fee. But did and once I got that done I went back to Texas and been still grinding tryna make it. Just not illegally

Do you have any relationship with your half sister now?

No. I have a certain set of codes that I live by. And well when I retired from that life and they decided to keep going. the situation they put themselves in landed her to break a code I live by. I can't really explain it because of certain things still going in but I'm sure you could prolly get the context clues.I haven't spoken to her in over a year or two

How has this event affected you life?

Well it humbled me to be honest. At 18 I thought I was bulletproof and cocky. Now I think twice a lot and chilled out. Got married and really wanna focus on that and gettin kids one day to raise em up to be successful without trying shortcuts like me

Sounds like it changed you for the better

For sure. I would really be a pompous prick if I got away with cash

But also to add. At the time of me getting busted as soon as I got out and came home for visits people around town thought I was like a mob king. I'm from a small town outside of houston and word travels fast. My friends are all bad influences so I definitely had "street cred" it was kinda humorous how people talked to me before and after everything

Hey, I have a couple more questions. Did you get federally charged or was it through the state? Also, did they try and get you to rat out other people involved?

State and yes they tried. I refused. In fact the public defender have me a worse deal then I ended up with if I ratted. They were saying if I don't snitch I'm lookin at 15 years. Unless I do then it's be 5 years probation. Said fuck it to both those options and ended up with 3 yrs probation

Did you ever think about taking it to trail and hope for jury nullification?

At the time the whole thing took 1.5 years I was jut ready to get it over with. And I didn't have any money to keep fighting it. Though I did hear that the other party paid for an appeal but the appeal lost too

Do you still smoke?

I do every now and then. My job randoms roughly every three months. I usually don't chance it. But I've smoked about once a year since the bust

48 pounds of what!?

kush

34 lbs of sour diesel and 9 lbs of silver afghani to be exact. Ohhhh man did it look delicious

Your car must have stunk something fierce. Did you put it in a false compartment or anything at least?

It was a rental so we couldn't just break the car down. And idk how you could fit that much in door panels, etc. it was all in trunk. We have each pound double bagged in food saver bags and then all of it filled 3 hefty kitchen trash bags. Also. The smell wasn't noticeable at all. Once a seal or bag breaks then it's everywhere. But really you'd never know if you didn't have a k-9 with you

It seems like if I were to do this I would rent a small U-Haul box truck, buy a shitload of crappy apartment furniture and shit. I'd put the weed in one corner and then cover it with couches, clothing, etc. I mean, your mileage won't be great but nobody would think twice about a U-Haul going cross country in the right hand lane at roughly the speed limit with two dudes driving it. Just say you're moving to a new town, unless you are insanely suspicious there is no way the cop is even going to ask to look in the box, and even less likely to remove all the shit in the back.

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I Ponder about that from time to time. Like if my coworker had bad blood that I didn't know of. But it's done now

So........ You wanna smuggle some weed bruh? Lol

After this ordeal, has it been difficult trying to get a job or going to school like you originally intended

Yes I went through a very tough time afterwards. I could wait tables and find nice part times. But I needed something to move outta my pops place with. I was dating my wife at the time and she was really there. I felt like a bum when she had to pay for our entire day out for her birthday. She stuck with me. And I have a lot to thank her for that. My buddy is in the Ibew. I applied and they gave me a test and everything. Next thing I know I'm having an interview. They said I scored one of the highest on the test and saw I was 59 out of 600 kids in high school. Then they looked down at the end of the sheet and asked" so tell me about your brother in law" and the rest of the interview was basically this entire AMA thread. But they saw that I wasn't about that anymore and hired me. I been here for over two years Boutta pass onto a 3rd year apprentice. Comes with like a $2.70 raise and one step closer to being a journeyman and greatful every minute of it

Whoa one of the guys was from Alvin? That's where I live, small world

I came here to say the same thing haha. I don't recognize OP, but I'd hang with him.

Come out to la tapatia on Friday nights. I bartend there

what's your stance on legalization? Given the fact that if it was legal you would have never gotten caught (or been able to make money the same way). What do you think you would have been doing instead?

Well I knew the black market for weed was crumbling. And I knew I didn't have a lot of time to be in it. I thought maybe if I got familiar with it I could be someone leading the way in Colorado or Cali. I'm all for legalization. It cripples the cartel. You'd much rather deal with me than those guys. And it's a nice taxable income for our govt. one thing I think is funny is I got busted in I-80 right by Cheyenne. If I was merely an hour south is be in Colorado. I would've loved to see how they handled it all. Cuz even though it wasn't legal back then. The stance they had on it was still there

How much space did 48 pounds take up?

The entire trunk. 3 hefty stretch n flex bags.

if you didn't get caught when would you have stopped?

I can't say. In my mind I thought there would be a nice number but being young and in that lifestyle it's really bad to stop. Money's fast money goes fast and then you need more. Or ya you bought a nice car but now you need a house. Knowing what I know now I prolly would've been ok with one to two trips and deucing. But greed and power does consume oneself

-Did you get paid for each run, or by how much you were willing to transport?

-How'd you get involved with these people at age 18?

-How were you hiding the multiple lbs in the car?

-Did you have a backup plan if one of you got caught?

-Were any of you packing heat?

-Was this your first time doing this?

• by how much. Eventually with a plane we would've been at a couple hundred pounds a trip

-MySpace and Facebook. Distant relatives saw my weed plant I was growing and constant pictures of me smoking

• in the trunk. Nowhere else to really out it lol

• had my half sister had some cash. Ended up only having enough to get one of us out. My codriver went out first. Like a month after busted. He had a better chance of gettin another 10k to get me out

Was this gonna be your career or just a space filler before college??

Simply tryna make enough to pay for college. Maybe nice car. Give my sister braces. But with anything like that you start getting that whole "well one more run will get me this. " and so on. Then you get busted and start thinking " well now I have to bounce back" it's really a downward spiral

Are you still dealing?

Naw but I do bartend part time. Which I kinda like a liquor dealer

No im a construction worker for the Ibew now

What was going through your head when you were getting pulled over? What did the cops say they pulled you over for?

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Yep sounds about like what I would be thinking too. Thanks for doing the AMA man, glad to hear you're out and doing well.

Thanks for all the questions man enjoyed answering them all

Someone's probably asked this but, what's 48 pounds of dope cost.

Buy for 2800 sell for 4-5 so it's around 120k selling for 170-190k

What's your very best life advice ?

Man I'm only 23. I'm not at all wise to be giving life advice lol I'm still trying to figure that out myself

The article is from 2010. It's now 2014. Did you get any time? Any other form of punishment?

answered in another post

Mostly probation which was very lax. I only piss tested once until the PO kinda realized I'm not using. It was 3 yrs they gave me but since I was an out of state case they have me 1.5 good conduct and let me go

Why do you guys still use that interstate? Why not go a indirect way?

It's faster

if you had a pilots license at that age, does that mean you're from a monied background? what kind of legal representation did you have?

My coworker paid for it all. My family has been broke our whole lives and my coworker or Heisenberg to it all decided it would be a nice investment to get me trained. It cost roughly 12,000 to get it certified. No way if pay for it

Did you think you would become the Canabis Kid?

(SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER)Wow I never seen that!!! Ya but I kinda see myself as Jesse from breaking bad. The relationship I had with my coworker was completely like that and I related to Jesse so much with the constant struggle with his moral compass. That show really kinda hit home for me so when the finale hit and saw Jesse driving away free I straight up cries no homo

Got any proof you're one of the people named in the article?

I'm on alien blue. And at work. So idk how I could send a pic for verification. I've never done an AMA and someone from another post said I should.

Whats your fines....recently wrapped up my case....caught.2 felony sales of narcotics charges (ratting bitches with there cameras) and looking ay about 30k not including bond cost legal fees etc.. Just curious

Had 3. Possession. Intent, and conspiracy

What was your sentence?

3yrs probation. The whole court thing drug out for a year and a halve so even though I got off halfway thru my sentence it still took me 3 yrs to get it all done. Been done for a year next month and loving the freedom

Who was the best monster godzilla has ever fought?

Finally now we got some good questions!!!Gotta go with King Kong. That shit was dope( pun intended) lol

How did your parents react?

Actually I sent my dad a text as we were waiting for the K-9 unit to start sniffing. Told him I'm going to jail and I love him. He sent one back saying " don't drop the soap" He later said he thought I was joking. I didn't get that memo when I went in so that was really hard on me

Funny, I did something similar. My house was getting searched but I wasn't under arrest yet. Called my mom and woke her up at 2am. Said "listen, I'm sorry but I'm about to be arrested. I'm going to put the phone down on speaker phone so you can hear what's going on."

and then?

Was not charged initially. Was told I would at least be charged with simple posession, paraphernalia, and alcohol underage - ill get to this part later. I said everything in the house was mine to try to keep my roommates from also being arrested. So I sat there in my living room as the lined everything up on the floor and just said "mine, mine, mine, mine". Until they pulled out my scale - said "I've never seen that in my life". I was lucky in that i had no weed in the house except for a small bag in my pocket when if they were there earlier there was a 1/4 lb and sometimes 5-10. They took everything except my money, I had a couple thousand in cash in one of those plastic storage bins under my bed. They spent the next 10 months trying to get my roommate to tell them I was selling weed out of the house. They would call her and ask to have a meeting with her and her lawyer in random places like Arby's. She always told me about it so I wasn't worried. Basically Va had up to a year to charge you, once they realized neither one of us were giving them the information they wanted they decided to bring us in. Special agent Robinson calls me on my cell phone while I'm at work to tell me he put out 2 warrants for my arrest and that I needed to turn myself in or they would come pick me up. All of this for him to bring us to court for just possession of weed and possession of alcohol underage 10 months after they searched my house. Ended up pleading no contest to the alcohol on a deal with the judge - he said if I stayed on probation until I finished school without getting in trouble everything would be dismissed. Took that deal immediately as it meant i wouldnt have to explain weed charges in job interviews. Graduated from college and now I have a good job that I probably wouldn't have with drug charges on my record.

Hell ya bro good job!!

Plz respond lol

Respect, man. What would your advice be to someone breaking into the game? Not trafficking, but dealing in general.

Also... Doritos on a pizza, or pizza or a Dorito?

It's really not worth it man. I did do some retail when I was in high school. Just dealt to friends. Was about a pound a week. But it's the same all around. Less is more when it comes to people. And never fuck with fronts. And guess what. You're gonna make sooooooooooo many friends dude. Like evvvveryone is gonna love you. Then the second you stop dealing it's just you and your x box lol

and I think Taco Bell needs to make a new Doritos locos pizza taco. How bout that one?

Eh, it's a tight situation, you know? Gotta pull the cash in somehow... especially when nobody's hiring. Honestly, I have no interest in putting myself out there - but if someone I know needs something, I wouldn't mind hooking them up.

Pizza dorito taco... that's probably the best munchies idea yet. Someone needs to get the Taco Bell CEO on the phone about this. They could sell it in combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bells.

How old are you? Are you in college /high school? Gotta a diploma or GED?

Got a high school degree, dropped out of college due to some medical complications. Don't have the money or ability to go back right now.

I know it's not for everyone but finding a local union to join saved my life. I was working 3 min wage jobs at a time before I found the Ibew. Took me awhile to get in cuz I had to take a test then an interview. But once I'm in I really don't have to worry bout work. If work slows down for one contractor and I get laid off I go str8 to another contractor in the union.

Union would be great, since my dad works with the international... except I use marijuana medicinally to control a lot of my mental issues and they won't hire me on that basis. I'm fucked.

There's always fake weed bruh......... I'm jk. Tried it a couple times. Fuck THAT

Ehhh I'm looking into synth cannabinoids a bit for experimentation, but they're not worth the pain in the ass. Constantly outlawed, hard to source, potentially dangerous... I'll stick to the plant!

Gotta be real or no deal

are you a monty python fan?

Some I've only actually seen bits and clips. Been meaning to watch em though

Did you have the weed paid for before you got caught?

Actually half was on front. That was my codrivers business. I just drove. They ended up callin me with threats after he couldn't pay it back. So THAT was fun

Did you end up paying or are you just in hiding?

I'm not hiding. I think I'm really of no value to who he still owes. And they kinda understand that. Me being young at the time.

Did that event impact your life in the present and what is your plan for the future?

I'm in the electrical union. Wanna turn out as a journeyman then go to college for electrical engineering. I feel the trade will help with my resume and at that time I'll probably be around 30 so the crime I committed at 18 could Definitely be negligible