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The truck driver in a 2019 cocaine bust in which 80 kilos and $2 million in cash was seized on Aurelian Springs Road was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for his part in the crime.

His accomplice is scheduled for sentencing in June, according to online court documents.

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Robert J. Higdon Jr. said Andrew Richard Rodarte, 73, of California, was sentenced by United States District Judge James C. Dever III in Raleigh today.

Rodarte was sentenced following a plea in September to possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and aiding and abetting.

Rodarte was observed driving a semi-truck to a home under investigation in the Littleton area in November, Higdon said in a statement.

He was observed meeting with individuals at that home who unloaded duffle bags from the semi-truck.  

After leaving the home, Rodarte drove to a nearby truck stop. 

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the home where they located Luis Enrrique Arroyo-Jimenez, the accomplice, and seized duffle bags containing a total of 80 kilograms of cocaine.  

Officers located Rodarte at the truck stop and searched his semi-truck where they found $2,055,141 in United States currency located in a hidden compartment. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dena King  prosecuted the case.