MIAMI – When their marijuana-growing operation failed in Fort Pierce, two men traveled to Miami to get their hands on cocaine. Their second venture didn’t last long either. They fell for a trap on Interstate 95 and their text messages built a case against them.
Court records show deputies were in an unmarked car, hiding under an overpass in Martin County, as a digital sign warned drivers traveling northbound on I-95 to prepare for a checkpoint ahead. The sign prompted those with anything to hide to rush to take the Highway 714 exit.
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According to federal prosecutors, Stanley Rumowski was driving when he also ran a stop sign and there was a traffic stop. Deputies reported Loki, a police dog, found about half a kilo of cocaine in a backpack, a loaded pistol by the driver’s side door, about $12,540 in cash, a scale, and rubber bands.
Joseph Acevedo, who had been convicted of a carjacking in Broward County, was the passenger traveling with Rumowski. He allegedly said they had borrowed the car from his girlfriend. Records show Rumowski told deputies that he had moved from Carol City to Fort Pierce.
The traffic stop and their arrests were on Dec. 1, 2022. Homeland Security Investigations in Miami and Fort Pierce collaborated during the investigation, which included text messages about their ventures with marijuana and cocaine.
Federal prosecutors charged them with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. They also charged Rumowski with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
A jury convicted them in July after a trial in Fort Pierce, and their sentencing was on Dec. 4. U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham sentenced Acevedo, 40, to 101 months in prison and a four-year probation, and Rumowski, 49, to 96 months in prison and a three-year probation.
Graham also ordered Rumowski to pay a fine of about $20,000.