2 plead guilty to drug charges

SHARON, Pa. -- Two Texas men arrested when their pickup truck hauling cocaine crashed along Interstate 80 in January have pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to distribute the drug.
Roberto Maldonado, 37, and Carlos Meza, 41, both of Canutillo, Texas, entered their pleas in Pittsburgh on Thursday before U.S. District Judge Terrence F. McVerry.
It was on Jan. 24 of this year that the men were driving east on I-80 when their pickup truck skidded off the snow-covered road in Mercer County and slammed into a median barrier, becoming disabled.
Gregory J. Nescott, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, said Pennsylvania State Trooper Charles Moran of the Mercer barracks came upon the pair walking along the berm and stopped to offer them a ride to the next exit to find a tow.
It was at that point that Maldonado said he guessed he was under arrest, Nescott said.
When Moran, thinking it was a joke, asked him why, Maldonado told him that the duffle bags in and near the truck contained cocaine, Nescott said.
Nescott said the bags held 583 pounds of the drug and the street value of the shipment would be between $5.8 million and $8 million.
The two men face sentencing Feb. 13 and the law provides for a sentence of not less than 10 years and as much as life in prison and a fine of up to $4 million, Nescott said.
Meza remains free on bond while Maldonado remains held without bond pending sentencing.