A 43-year-old man charged with allegedly having a large quantity of drugs when the Reno County Drug Unit did a search of his home could face charges in federal court.
Arnoldo Garcia-Serrano is charged of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute meth, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, two counts of no tax stamp, and 9-counts of unlawful use of a communications device, namely a telephone. Those charges were filed in State District Court, but Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton has apparently sent the case to the feds to see if they want to prosecute the case at the federal level.
The case starts with a search warrant being served at a home at 619 North Plum in the early morning hours of July 9, of last year. Prior to the search warrant being served, DEU agents seized around 2-pounds of methamphetamine. He allegedly admitted that he arranged the pick-up and distribution of the drugs. During the search, they also allegedly found around an ounce of cocaine and a large amount of cash, around 5-thousand dollars. He allegedly used his cell phone to make the drug sales. He also apparently has a hold with immigration officials which may be part of the reason the state wants the case to go through federal court..
The case was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday, but is on hold to give the U-S Attorney’s Office time to decide if they want to take the case. Until any decision is made at that level, the state charges are on hold. Should the feds decide against taking the case, then the state would proceed with the case in District Court and prosecute Garcia-Serrano on the state charges.