(La Porte County, IN) - Charges have now been decided in connection with close to 300 pounds of marijuana confiscated by La Porte County Police.

 

Luis Dorantes Perez, 38, has been charged with Level 5 felony Dealing in Marijuana, having been arrested Monday and placed under a 48-hour hold to give prosecutors time to review the evidence and determine charges.

 

He was pulled over near Rolling Prairie after an officer caught him speeding on the Indiana Toll Road. There, nearly 60 five-pound packages of partially vacuum-sealed marijuana and over a dozen one-pound packages of marijuana were allegedly found in the back end of his rent-a-car. A blanket hid the entire load until it was removed by the officer who detected its smell.

 

The man, from the state of Washington, told police he was his way to New York City from his home state to deliver the pot “from his work,” according to investigators.

 

Dorantes Perez could face an up to six-year prison sentence, and is scheduled to appear before La Porte Circuit Court Judge Tom Alevizos for his initial hearing in the case on Friday.

 

The suspect is still being held in the La Porte County Jail on $15,000 bond.