A truck driver was busted with hundreds of pounds of marijuana after bragging about how much money he made to a bartender in Crook County, Wyoming.
According to the Sundance Times, a DEA informant overheard truck driver Michael Liegakos telling the bartender that he pockets nearly $14,000 hauling shipping containers between Washington State and Long Island, New York. He also boasted that he hauled the load without any shipping papers.
The lack of shipping papers, coupled with an amount that he deemed ‘unusually high’, raised enough suspicion for the informant to contact the DEA. He described the man as a 60-year-old male, with a gray beard and a cowboy hat.
The DEA then contacted local authorities, who located the tractor trailer the following day, on May 29th.
Wyoming Highway Patrol officers reportedly followed the truck and pulled the driver over after witnessing a lane violation on Highway 212. Upon approaching the driver, the trooper claims to have smelled a “thick, strong odor” of alcohol.
Liegakos told the officer that he did not have shipping papers for the load, blaming the company for failing to provide them. The driver also told the officer that he was hauling car parts to New York, a trip that he makes twice a month, earning $12,000 per trip.
Liegakos was ordered to take a breathalyzer test, which showed him at four times the legal limit for operating a commercial vehicle. He was immediately arrested.
In the police report, the officer mentioned the drivers earnings and stated that it was “a nearly unheard of price in the trucking industry.”
The officer then instructed his K-9 to inspect the tractor trailer, which alerted of the presence of a controlled substance.
The vehicle was towed to a WYDOT facility in Sundance, Wyoming, where the load and truck were searched.
Officers found eight large steel tool boxes contained hundreds of pounds of marijuana products.
“All eight boxes contained marijuana in plant form or marijuana products ranging from THC infused liquid, THC infused edibles, THC infused vapor cartridges for vapor pens and butane hash oil,” the trooper wrote in a report.
In total, officials seized 18 pounds of THC liquid, 141 pounds of edibles, 254 pounds of THC vapor cartridges, and 372 pounds of marijuana plant.
Liegakos, who already had several lifetime convictions for driving while intoxicated, was charged with one misdemeanor count of driving while under the influence, one felony count of possession with intent to deliver, and two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance.
He faces up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine for each felony charge.