Medicare probably didn’t cover this one.
Michigan police arrested an 87-year-old man on Friday after he told authorities that he was forced « at gunpoint » to transport the 105 bricks of cocaine they found in the trunk of his pick-up truck.
Authorities said that they asked Leo Earl Sharp to pull over after they noticed the Michigan City, Ind., senior-citizen veering out of his lane, according to the Detroit Free Press. When Sharp denied the trooper permission to search his truck, police brought a dog to the scene and quickly discovered the narcotics.
In total, Sharp was transporting 228 pounds of cocaine. Estimated wholesale value: $2.9 million.
« That is certainly a significant cocaine seizure, » Rich Isaacson, spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told the Detroit News.
On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Randon ordered Sharp released on bond.
The Detroit News described the scene in the court room as « comical » and « one of the more colorful appearances in recent memory. » The newspaper explained that at one point the 87-year-old said he couldn’t hear the judge because he lost his hearing « in the war » and that he was unable to return to his home in Indiana because his passport was stolen.
A criminal complaint issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is « thin on details, » according to the Associated Press. It also remains unclear where Sharp was headed.
Sharp is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated that Indiana police arrested Sharp, when in fact the suspect was driving in Michigan at the time of his arrest. HuffPost regrets the error.
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