A man pulled over for a traffic violation in Milton Township earlier this year is going to prison for more than five years after being convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

Under a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors, 39-year-old Benjamin Ortiz Ledezma will spend 63 months in federal prison.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said back in February that Ledezma was sweating during frigid weather when a Trooper pulled his Jeep over on Interstate 76.  The traffic stop led to a search of the Jeep that uncovered more than 44 pounds of cocaine.

According to an affidavit, a state trooper spotted Ledezma’s Jeep traveling only 50 miles per hour in a  70 mph zone. 

The trooper pulled the Jeep over after claiming it crossed a traffic boundary line several times.

Noticing that  Ledezma seemed nervous and was sweating profusely in spite of the cold temperatures and lack of heat in the Jeep, the trooper called for a drug-sniffing K-9 who led them to two bricks of suspected cocaine in the cargo area, and sixteen more bricks under the spare tire.

The bricks weighed a total of 20 kilograms, equivalent to 44 pounds.

Ledezma, who didn’t have a driver’s license, showed the trooper a Mexican identification card.

He said he was swerving on the road because he had been trying to make a phone call and was on his way to a drywall job.