http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/artic ... 75,00.html

Mexican gets 70 months in I-75 stop
By BILL POOVEY, Associated Press
August 1, 2006


CHATTANOOGA — A Mexican pulled over on an interstate with $1.5 million in illegal narcotics money — a traffic stop his attorney attributed to "driving while Hispanic" profiling — received a 70-month prison sentence Tuesday.

Jose Serrano-Lopez, a citizen of Mexico, also will be deported after serving the prison term, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips said.

Serrano-Lopez, 52, was southbound on Interstate 75 about 30 miles north of Chattanooga in January 2005 when a drug agent said he noticed the passing driver’s "very rigid, stiff body" and followed. He said he pulled over the vehicle after he saw it weaving excessively.

Serrano-Lopez pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to distribute at least 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds, of marijuana. Conviction on the original charges could have meant a prison sentence of up to 80 years.

Defense attorney Bruce Harvey of Atlanta, said again Tuesday that the traffic stop was "absolutely"’ a case of profiling by the drug agent.

The agent, Lt. Bobby Queen of the 10th Judicial Drug Task Force, previously denied there was any profiling and said he pays no attention to race, ethnicity or nationality in making stops.

The drug task force got to keep the $1.5 million and the BMW sports utility vehicle that Serrano-Lopez was driving.