Jose De La Cruz Guerra Torres

When police arrested a Powell man for drunk driving this month, they spotted a mostly empty beer can near the driver’s seat. But it was the more than $12,000 in cash in Jose De La Cruz Guerra Torres’ vehicle that really drew officers’ attention, allegedly leading authorities to tens of thousands of dollars worth of illegal drugs.

Guerra Torres is now facing three felony counts of possessing a controlled substance with intent to deliver. They relate to three types of illegal drugs — cocaine, meth and doses containing an
apparent mixture of fentanyl and oxycodone — allegedly found in court-authorized searches of the 41-year-old’s home and vehicles.

Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents say in court documents they had previously identified Guerra Torres as “a large-scale distributor of controlled substances,” surveilling him over a period of months as part of a multi-county and still ongoing investigation. Authorities say the recent searches then yielded hundreds of grams of drugs.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Guerra Torres remained in the Park County Detention Center, serving a 15-day jail sentence for the DUI. Once he completes that time, Guerra Torres will need to post $25,000 in cash if he wants to go free while his felony case is pending.

Deputy Park County Attorney Larry Eichele requested the $25,000 bond. He argued that the type and amount of drugs involved in the case pose a public safety risk and that Guerra Torres, a Mexican citizen who’s left the county in the past, is an “extreme flight risk.”

Through an interpreter, Guerra Torres told Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah that he was unsure if he’d be able to raise $25,000.

“I would need to talk to my family to see if they have that much money,” Guerra Torres said. “That’s a lot of money.”

Though search warrants associated with the case have yet to be returned, court records indicate authorities seized a substantial amount of cash from Guerra Torres as part of their investigation.

The investigation had reportedly been in the works for months, but things came to a head on Dec. 4. Around 7:30 p.m., multiple people reported an apparent drunk driver heading toward Powell from Garland on U.S. Highway 14A; one caller began driving in front of the vehicle with their emergency flashers on in an effort to warn oncoming traffic.

Powell Police Sgt. Sean Alquist spotted the truck as it approached the Homesteader Rest Area and saw the Toyota Tacoma drift across the center turn lane. Alquist flipped on his lights, siren and horn and issued commands over his vehicle’s PA system, but the driver — later identified as Guerra Torres — kept driving, weaving across lanes at speeds ranging between 14 and 21 mph.

Eventually, Guerra Torres stopped in the middle of Coulter Avenue near its intersection with Bent Street. For the next eight minutes, he failed to respond to commands in English and Spanish to put his hands up, Alquist’s affidavit says. When the suspect eventually got out of the truck with his hands raised, he was handcuffed by Alquist and two Park County Sheriff’s deputies who’d arrived on scene to assist.

Guerra Torres smelled strongly of alcohol, Alquist wrote, and was unsteady on his feet with bloodshot, watery eyes. A breath test placed his blood alcohol concentration at .187% — more than double the 0.08% level at which a driver is presumed to be impaired.

Police found a six-pack of Michelob Ultra and a mostly empty bottle within reach of the driver’s seat, along with the cash, bundled in $1,000 increments.

DCI was notified and in the days following the arrest, agents reportedly searched Guerra Torres’ home on North Cheyenne Street, his vehicles and two cellphones in his possession. 

Agents reportedly found more than 200 grams of what appeared to be cocaine, 200 grams of suspected meth and 100 dosage units of what appeared to be counterfeit 30mg oxycodone pills. Some of the drugs appeared to be packaged for sale, DCI Special Agent Shane Reece wrote in an affidavit.

At Guerra Torres’ residence, authorities also found an unspecified amount of “additional bulk U.S. currency” and other signs of drug distribution, including baggies and digital scales, the affidavit says.

Guerra Torries initially denied any wrongdoing, but “when confronted with additional facts and the discovered controlled substances, Guerra admitted to being involved with and distributing controlled substances,” Reece wrote.

During a Monday appearance in Circuit Court, Guerra Torres expressed confusion about how his DUI arrest had turned into a drug case.

Authorities searched his house, “but I didn’t have anything in my truck with me,” Guerra Torres told the judge through an interpreter. “Why am I having these charges with you?”

Back at his initial appearance on Dec. 5, Guerra Torres had been quick to admit to driving drunk the previous day and in June 2005, in a DUI case he’d failed to resolve.

“I’m guilty,” he said through an interpreter, adding later to the judge that, “If you give me the opportunity, I will pay my fines and I will get my license and I will do better.”

Judge Darrah imposed 15 days in jail and $790 in financial penalties for the two DUIs, but the new drug charges could carry significantly stiffer sentences.

A preliminary hearing, where Darrah will determine whether there’s enough evidence for Guerra Torres’ case to move toward a trial in District Court, is tentatively set for Dec. 22.