Texan gets 25 years on marijuana conviction [View All]

MERIDIAN, Miss. - A Lauderdale County judge has rejected arguments that a Texas man with prior drug convictions knew nothing about the 20-plus kilograms of marijuana hidden in a pickup truck the man was driving through Mississippi in 2004.

Circuit Judge Larry Roberts sentenced Cecilio Alvarez Camargo Jr. of Harlingen, Texas, to 25 years in prison and fined him $10,000.

Roberts also scolded Camargo: "It's beyond imagination that you did not know the marijuana was in your vehicle. It seems like you would have gotten the message by now to get out of the drug delivery business."

Camargo was stopped for careless driving on Jan. 6, 2004. The Meridian police officer who pulled him over on Interstate 20/59 found the marijuana in hidden compartments inside the truck.