CEDAR CITY — An accused drug trafficker who was arrested following a traffic stop north of Cedar City two months ago has been sentenced to 250 days in jail and three years of probation in connection with the case.
Fabricio Sanchez-Espinoza, 43, appeared in person in 5th District Court in Cedar City on Tuesday morning before Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen. Although he had been scheduled for a pretrial conference, he instead pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony.
As previously reported in St. George News and Cedar City News, Sanchez was pulled over on Oct. 12 by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper near mile marker 67 on northbound Interstate 15 for having dark window tint on his vehicle, darker than allowed in Utah.
In a subsequent probable-cause search of the vehicle, police reportedly found two kilograms of cocaine that had been hidden inside the front door panels.
Sanchez-Espinoza, who has been incarcerated in Iron County Jail since his arrest, faces deportation to Mexico upon his scheduled release in June, once his 250-day jail sentence has been completed.
“I want you to know that this is a very serious offense,” Allen told Sanchez-Espinoza just before imposing the terms of the sentencing. “It harms people in our community and we take it very seriously.”
Sanchez-Espinoza, who was represented by public defender Robert Winterton, required the assistance of a Spanish interpreter throughout the proceedings.
Allen also ordered Sanchez-Espinoza to pay a fine of $1,000 and said that it was to be handled by the Utah State Office of Debt Collection, given his immigration status. His 36-month bench probation term will be overseen by the court, she noted.
“The Utah Highway Patrol in Iron County continues to find and stop large drug loads traveling through the interstate,” Iron County Attorney Chad Dotson told Cedar City News after Tuesday’s hearing. “Unfortunately, many of the traffickers easily cross the border from Mexico illegally and are paid to deliver narcotics through the country. This defendant should be deported after he serves his time.”
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