Luis Alfredo Ortiz, 26, was found guilty as charged of Trafficking in Illegal Drugs, Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Paraphernalia, Possession of Cannabis – Over 20 Grams, and No Valid Driver’s License. The jury returned the guilty verdict just before 9 p.m. last night, following a one-day trial in Lee County.
On January 9, 2019 the defendant was pulled over for not wearing his seatbelt by a Fort Myers Police Officer. The defendant, driving alone, did not have a driver’s license and never had one. The officer also smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car.
A search of the Mercedes was conducted and marijuana was found in the center console. There was also a designer bag on the floor of the passenger side. The bag was packed full of illegal drugs. In it was more than 130 grams of pre-sealed and packaged marijuana. There was also cocaine and fentanyl. There were more than 40 bags of fentanyl.
Next to the bag was a scale and empty bags that matched the ones that packaged the narcotics. Ortiz also had $8,500 in cash on him and a marijuana blunt was tucked behind his ear. Oritz was taken into custody.
The Fort Myers Police Department was able to lift a fingerprint off one of the bags containing drugs that was in the designer bag. The print matched the defendant so the drugs could further be connected to Ortiz.
Assistant State Attorney Michael Colombo Jr. prosecuted the case. Sentencing is scheduled for January 30th.
Samantha Syoen
Communications Director
State Attorney’s Office
ssyoen@sao20.org
239-533-1125