A Chattanooga man caught with cocaine has been sentenced to serve 37 months in federal prison.
Montrell Tucker appeared before Judge Sandy Mattice.
On Sept. 7, 2013, a Chattanooga Police Department officer initiated a traffic stop of a car in which the defendant was a passenger. The car did not stop for about 200 yards, after it went through a red light.
Prosecutors said that once the car did stop, the officer observed the front passenger, later identified as Tucker, moving around. It appeared to the officer as though the defendant was reaching down to the floor area of the car, as his shoulders would dip in and out of sight.
The officer asked the two occupants (the driver and the defendant) to exit the car and asked the driver for permission to search the car, which the driver granted.
While several officers were preparing to search the car, other officers were preparing to search the two men. Both individuals were asked to remove their shoes. As soon as the defendant complied, two large pieces of crack came out of his right shoe, it was stated.
Tucker then immediately fled. After a lengthy foot pursuit, he was apprehended and returned to the scene.
The car was then searched and officers discovered a larger amount of crack in a clear plastic bag underneath the passenger seat – the same seat Tucker had been seen sitting in moments earlier.
Tucker admitted that the crack in his shoe was his but claimed to have no knowledge of the larger bag of crack that was underneath the passenger seat.
TBI lab results reflect that the total weight of the crack in Tucker’s shoe amounted to 5.66 grams and that the total weight of the bag found underneath the seat was 15.29 grams.