After Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers gave Jose Serrano-Garcia a total of 40-months in prison in 2009, he has lost his appeal in the case.

Not that it matters, because he’s no longer in state prison custody, having been released back in April and immediately taken into federal custody, which means he could be deported.

Serrano-Garcia had absconded at one point in this case after he was released on a 25-thousand dollar bond in 2002. In 2004, he failed to show for a hearing in the case and the state filed an additional charge of aggravated failure to appear. But, he was apparently picked up on a federal warrant and served time in federal prison.

But, once he was in state custody, the prosecution, as part of a plea agreement, dropped the charge of aggravated failure to appear.

Judge Chambers sentenced him to 23-months in state prison for possession of marijuana with intent to sell, 10-months for conspiracy to deliver or distribute marijuana, and 7-months for no drug tax stamp for a total of 40-months.

The case centers on a raid of a home and garage at 9505 North Tobacco Road back on May, 7, 2002. Serrano-Garcia was inside the garage along with several other individuals.

Reno County Drug Unit detectives served a search warrant on the home and garage. They found 146-pounds of marijuana sitting next to a Lincoln Navigator, and another 58-pounds inside the gas tank of that vehicle, all in brick form.

This amount of marijuana seized was considered the largest marijuana bust in Reno County history, at least at the time.