Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Possession : Accused to Appeal Ruling on Seizure of 200 Pounds of Cocaine

An Orange County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to a drug possession charge in Los Angeles federal court after a judge last week rejected a defense motion to refuse as evidence the more than 200 pounds of cocaine seized by officials.

Authorities said the $3.5 million worth of cocaine seized during the arrest last Dec. 6 of Daniel Hernando Serrano, 39, of Laguna Hills was the largest seizure of narcotics in Orange County history.

A conditional plea of guilty was entered by Serrano at what was to have been the start of a jury trial before U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson.

Serrano’s lawyer, Mitchell W. Egers of Los Angeles, said the conditional plea was entered because Serrano wanted to appeal Wilson’s ruling on the seizure of the cocaine.

“We believe that the police had no probable cause to stop the van he (Serrano) was driving” at the time of his arrest, Egers said.

The attorney added that the appeal also will be based on Serrano’s assertions that police officers suggested to him on several occasions after his arrest that he drop Egers as his lawyer.

Last Week’s Ruling

Wilson ruled last week that police officers had probable cause to stop Serrano’s van and search it. He also held that police suggestions to fire Egers were improper, but they were insufficient grounds to suppress the cocaine as evidence against Serrano.

The guilty plea will be withdrawn if the appeal is successful, Egers said.

Serrano, a former supervisor for Xerox Corp., was arrested by Anaheim police officers in El Toro after federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents followed him and another man driving a separate car from Orange County to an industrial area near the Los Angeles River.

There agents watched Serrano and others move boxes from a tractor trailer with a Florida license plant into Serrano’s 1985 Toyota van, according to an affidavit filed in Los Angeles federal court.

Van Stopped in El Toro

Authorities, who had been investigating the case since November, then stopped the van in El Toro, believing that the driver might be involved in a drug deal.

In a hearing Tuesday before Wilson, Serrano entered the conditional guilty plea to one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, Egers said. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Sentencing was set for April 21.