ST. GEORGE — A defendant was recently sentenced on felony drug distribution charges following a federal criminal interdiction operation that netted over 4 pounds of suspected cocaine at a Washington County bus stop in April.
On Aug. 13, the defendant, 31-year-old Anthony Lamar Lewis, of Los Angeles, California, appeared in 5th District Court in St. George for sentencing on a third-degree felony count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. In June, Lewis pleaded guilty to the charge, which was originally filed as a second-degree felony but was reduced in exchange for the guilty plea.
The case was filed following the defendant’s arrest on April 18, when a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy working an interdiction operation with Homeland Security Investigations approached one of the area shuttles during a scheduled stop in St. George and deployed a K-9 officer to conduct a free-air sniff around the exterior of the bus, according to the affidavit filed at the time of the arrest.
A search ensued after the K-9 officer indicated the possible presence of narcotics, as previously reported by St. George News.
The search of a bag yielded nothing illegal, but agents were advised that the bag’s owner was seen speaking with another male as the passengers exited the bus. The pair were then seen walking quickly through the parking lot into a back alley.
An officer dressed in plain clothes approached Lewis, who said he was traveling to Salt Lake City with only a backpack.
Officers searched his backpack and reportedly found approximately 2 kilos of cocaine inside.
Lewis was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility, where he was booked into jail on a felony distribution charge.
On June 4, the defendant pleaded guilty to the reduced charge and was released, pending the sentencing hearing held before District Judge Eric A. Ludlow last week.
Lewis was sentenced to serve 120 days in jail with credit for time served, and the prison sentence was suspended.
He was placed on three years’ probation and ordered to pay a fine of $1,500, along with a restriction from leaving the state of Utah without entering into an interstate compact agreement.
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