MAN LOSES APPEAL OF POT CONVICTION

CHEYENNE -- A man who claimed he was just along for the ride in a car
that contained 77 pounds of marijuana lost his appeal to the Wyoming
Supreme Court.

The state's high court concluded that a Laramie County District court
jury heard nearly overwhelming evidence to convict Jorge T. Sotolongo-
Garcia of possession with intent to deliver marijuana and conspiracy
to deliver.

In a separate opinion issued Tuesday, the Supreme Court also upheld
the forgery conviction of Betty Jean Williams in Sheridan County
District Court.

In the marijuana case, Garcia and Steven Nevling, a car mechanic in
San Diego, Calif., who repaired cars for drugs or money, were stopped
by the Wyoming Highway Patrol 15 miles west of Cheyenne while enroute
to Iowa according to the Supreme Court opinion, written by Justice
Larry Lehman.

The two men were stopped because Nevling was driving erratically and
the 1994 Mitsubishi lacked working taillights.

They both claimed not to know the other, Lehman wrote.

The interior of the car exuded an overwhelming odor of diesel fuel,"a
ruse sometimes used to mask the scent of drugs from dogs," Lehman wrote.

A canine unit was called to the scene, anyway. The dog "alerted" and
officers found about 20 bricks of marijuana in the trunk.

Nevling made a plea bargain with the state and testified against
Garcia at his jury trial.

Nevling said he was working on the Mitsubishi Gallant for a man called
Alan who asked him to drive the car to Iowa in return for $1,500 and a
quarter ounce of methamphetamine. After the car trunk was loaded with
marijuana, Alan introduced Nevling to Garcia and was told he would
join Nevling on the trip.

Alan gave Garcia $300 for expenses and a cell phone.

Nevling said that during the trip the cell phone rang several times
and Garcia would speak in Spanish to the caller. On a couple of
occasions Garcia used the word "mota," which is Spanish slang for
marijuana, the opinion said.

In closing arguments, Garcia's defense attorney said the case boiled
down to whether the jury believed Nevling's testimony. The jury
apparently did believe Nevling when it found Garcia guilty, the
Supreme Court opinion said.

A Sheridan County District Court jury convicted Betty Jean Williams on
five counts of forging checks of a cab driver while doing some
painting at his home in March 2000.

On appeal, Williams challenged the testimony of the state's
handwriting expert, Richard Crivello, who worked for the Wyoming State
Crime Laboratory as a forensic document examiner for 16 and one-half
years.

The Supreme Court found that Williams' attorney was given ample
opportunity to cross-examine Crivello to test his opinions.

Moreover, there was other evidence against Williams, including
testimony from bank employees about her odd behavior when cashing and
depositing the checks. The cab driver testified he had not given
Williams the checks in question and never intended to pay her more
than $950 to help him paint his house, said the court opinion by
Justice Larry Lehman.