Aristedes Victor Balbuena faces a minimum prison term of at least 10 years on cocaine conspiracy charge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Griffin told U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose that Balbuena sold 2 kilograms of cocaine -- about 4½ pounds -- to another drug dealer on Mardi Gras Day last year on Broad Street.Investigators recorded 1,200 phone calls between the dealer and Balbuena over several years. In February 2001, officers who stopped Balbuena found a shoe box filled with $13,428. The next year, Louisiana state police discovered $69,780 hidden in luggage inside a car in which Balbuena was a passenger. Balbuena has indicated that he wants to cooperate with prosecutors in hopes of a lighter sentence. DuBose set his sentencing for Sept. 12. Four Mobile County men pleaded guilty last week to federal drug charges that led to the arrest of a Houston man believed to be a major cocaine supplier. Stanley Val Williams, Kenneth Bernard Harris, Nolan Curtis Martin Jr. and Dwayne Lamont King pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. A fifth defendant, Wayne Maurince Lafitte, has also signaled his intent to plead guilty.
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