Man pleads guilty to cocaine trafficking

A man who was transporting nine kilograms of cocaine as he traveled with his 13-year-old son from Texas to Tennessee pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon before a federal judge in Texarkana.
Marcus Pizana, 39, appeared with Texarkana lawyer Craig Henry for a plea hearing Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven. Pizana pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross said Pizana's plea agreement includes an 87-month federal prison sentence. Ross said the government is also seeking imposition of a $160,000 money judgement against Pizana which is meant to represent the proceeds of his illicit conduct.
Pizana was driving a Ford F-250 truck along Interstate 30 in Bowie County when he was stopped Dec. 30, 2012, for traffic violations by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, according to a factual basis filed Tuesday in Pizana's case. The trooper stopped Pizana for twice driving onto the shoulder of the highway. Pizana gave his permission for the trooper to search the truck.
Inside of a hidden compartment, the trooper discovered nine cellophane-wrapped bundles of cocaine. Each bundle contained approximately one kilo of cocaine which Pizana was driving from Grand Prarie, Texas, to Olive Branch, Tenn., where he intended to sell the drugs. Drug Enforcement Agency testing of the cocaine revealed it to be 8,746 grams with a 73.6 purity level.
Pizana will return to court for formal sentencing before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III in several months. Pizana remains in the custody of U.S. Marshals.
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