Man pleads guilty to possession charge
Published 1:38 pm Saturday, August 14, 2010
A 23-year-old Nebraska man who was charged in April for first-degree aiding and abetting a $6,000 sale of cocaine pleaded guilty in Freeborn County District Court Friday to a lesser drug possession charge.
Angel Catarino Plascenia, of Omaha, Neb., pleaded guilty to fifth-degree drug possession as part of a plea agreement.
He is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 1.
According to court documents, Plascenia and Pedro Cabrera Guiterrez, 24, also of Omaha, were arrested April 1 after a South Central Drug Task Force informant made arrangements to purchase six ounces of cocaine for $6,700 from Guiterrez in the Trail’s Travel Center parking lot, 820 Happy Trails Lane, Albert Lea.
Documents state deputies saw a red Pontiac Grand Prix carrying Guiterrez and Plascenia pull up and park a couple stalls away from the informant’s vehicle in the parking lot. The trunk was open.
The informant then got into the Grand Prix.
Shortly after, Plascenia left the vehicle, and the informant went to his vehicle to appear to get the cash.
Right after, the two men were arrested and taken to the Freeborn County jail.
According to court records, Plascenia reportedly admitted to driving to Albert Lea from Omaha and acknowledged that he knew the purpose of the trip was to deliver cocaine.
He said he watched Guiterrez put the cocaine in the spare tire of the car and that he knew the sale was going to take place, records state.
When the deputy interviewed Guiterrez, he “acknowledged that law enforcement pretty much had everything but stated he did not wish to talk any further,” according to court records.
Guiterrez, who is charged with first-degree drug sale, has not yet entered a plea in the case.