Kentucky man admits drug count

Trooper found cocaine, pistols in vehicle, complaint says

TEXARKANA — One of two Kentucky men arrested with 123 pounds of cocaine and two pistols during an October 2018 traffic stop has pleaded guilty.

Curtis Troxtle, 34, and his Texarkana lawyer Cory Floyd appeared before U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey on Jan. 23 where Troxtle pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than 50 kilograms (about 110 pounds) of cocaine and to carrying a weapon in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

The man arrested with Troxtle, Johnnie Adams, is scheduled for a change of plea hearing Feb. 21 before Hickey. Until then, Adams is free on an unsecured $5,000 appearance bond.

Floyd asked Hickey to release Troxtle on his current bond until his sentencing which will be in four to six months. Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham Jones objected, citing federal law that requires detention in such cases. Hickey ordered Troxtle moved into the custody of U.S. marshals.

Jones said that in 2018, Troxtle and Adams flew from Kentucky in a private plane owned by Adams. The plane broke down in Louisiana, and the men rented a Ford Explorer, which was stopped Oct. 29, 2018, by Arkansas State Police Trooper Bernard Pettit on Interstate 30 in Hempstead County.

While both men told the officer that their trip was altered by Adams’ plane breaking down in Louisiana, they gave different accounts of their travel, a criminal complaint states.

Troxtle reportedly told Pettit that the men were flying from Kentucky to vacation in Corpus Christi, Texas, when the aircraft broke down in Louisiana. Adams said the men had flown from Kentucky to Shreveport for vacation and had never stopped in Texas, according to the complaint.

The conflicting accounts led Pettit to ask Adams for permission to search the Explorer, which Adams declined to give, reports said. A Nevada County sheriff ’s office drug dog was used to search around the vehicle and alerted to the odor of narcotics, reports said.

After Pettit told the men that the dog’s behavior gave officers probable cause to search the Explorer, Adams said, “We are mules and the car is loaded,” according to the complaint.

A black, hard-cased suitcase containing 32 packages of suspected cocaine was found in the vehicle, along with a Nike duffle bag containing another 24 packages, the complaint said. Each package weighed about 2.2 pounds, and a sample from one of the packages field-tested positively for cocaine, according to the complaint.

Two pistols also were found in the Explorer, the complaint said. Adams showed officers a Kentucky concealed carry gun license and said one of the weapons belonged to him, reports said. When interviewed later by a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent, the men confessed that they were transporting the drugs from south Texas to Detroit and that the second pistol in the car was part of their delivery, the complaint said.

Adams told investigators that he expected to be paid $75,000 and intended to pay Troxtle $15,000, the complaint said.

Hickey told Troxtle at Thursday’s hearing that he faces 10 years to life in prison, a fine of up to $10 million, or both, for possession with intent to distribute more than 50 kilos of cocaine. For possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, Hickey said, Troxtle faces five years to life in prison, a fine up to $250,000, or both.

Any sentence Troxtle receives for the weapons offense must be served consecutively to any term imposed for the drug crime.

Adams is charged with the same offenses as Troxtle and faces the same possible punishment.