An elderly man swerving on the highway turned into a major drug bust for state police, who found 104 bricks of cocaine stashed in the 87-year-old man’s pickup truck.
That’s at least $2.9 million worth of cocaine.
In U.S. District Court today, the driver, Leo Sharp of Michigan City, Ind.,, did not offer a full explanation about what happened. But at one point in court, he tried telling a magistrate that he was forced at gunpoint to haul the cocaine, until his lawyer stepped in and advised him to just answer the judge’s questions.
Attorney Ray Richards said this was Sharp’s first time being in the federal court system, and was likely confused by the questioning.
“I’m sure it was quite an experience for him,” said Richards, who described the man as “an eclectic client who found himself in a pretty significant situation.”
“He’s very intelligent,” Richards said of his client. “This will be my first actual drug case where the accused is this old. I’ve never seen it. It’s different.”
According to Richards, Sharp, who is married with children, works full time growing legitimate, exotic plants for a horticulture company in Indiana. During the 1960s, Sharp also ran a Las Vegas tour company in Detroit and has held several jobs since, he said.
According to court records, a state trooper on Friday pulled Sharp over on I-94 near Ann Arbor for following too closely and improper lane use. The trooper asked Sharp for permission to search his car, but Sharp refused.
That’s when K-9 Apollo, the drug sniffing dog, was called to the scene and found the cocaine stashed in black bags in the bed of his pickup truck, records show.
Sharp was transported to the DEA Detroit field division and processed. At 9 p.m. Friday, he was taken to the Hamtramck Police Department and detained until his arraignment today.
Sharp, who was released on bond, said he wants to write a book about his ordeal.
Richards said he doesn’t blame him.
“To be 87 years old and to be facing these kinds of criminal charges, especially in federal court?” Richards said. “He’s seen it all … and now he has to fight for his life.” Detroit Free Press
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