GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- Five years in prison was given to a man from California after he was convicted of having drugs near Grand Island.

U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr said 51-year-old Jose Alfredo Ek-Poot, of California, was sentenced in federal court in Lincoln on Thursday. He was convicted for possession of methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana with the intent to distribute. Ek-Poot will serve 60 months in prison with a four-year term of supervised release after. There is no parole in the federal system. 

Court documents stated that Ek-Poot, along with Esteban Dejesus Huerta Rocha and Ricardo Jiminez-Noveno, were going east on Interstate 80, near Grand Island, when they were stopped by a trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol for speeding on Nov. 4, 2021. Rocha was the driver, Jiminez-Noveno was the front seat passenger, and Ek-Poot was in the back.

Officials said the trooper could smell the odor of marijuana coming from the car and saw a bag of marijuana inside. Troopers searched the car and found a mason jar of marijuana in the front passenger door compartment.

According to authorities, they found a backpack with a meth pipe on the front passenger floorboard. Rocha was searched and had a small bag of cocaine in his pocket. Troopers also found 8.5 pounds of meth, 5.5 pounds of marijuana, and 10.8 ounces of cocaine in the trunk.

Ek-Poot pleaded guilty on Nov. 3, 2023. Jiminez-Noveno pleaded guilty on Aug. 30, 2022, and was sentenced on Nov. 22, 2022, to 156 months in prison with a five-year term of supervised release after. Rocha pleaded guilty on July 6, 2022, and was sentenced on Oct. 7, 2022, to 135 months in prison with five years of supervised release after.

This case was investigated by NSP.