Minor league baseball player formally charged in meth, oxycodone bust
Jesus Camargo-Corrales faces four class 1 drug felonies punishable by 8-32 years in prison if he's convicted
EAGLE — A minor league baseball player arrested after deputies allegedly found 21 pounds of methamphetamine and 1.2 pounds of oxycodone pills in his Chicago Cubs duffel bag during a St. Patrick’s Day traffic stop on Interstate 70 has been formally charged in connection with the incident.
Prosecutors have charged Jesus Camargo-Corrales, 25, of Tempe, Arizona, with four class 1 drug felonies — the most serious drug charge in Colorado — and two class 4 drug felonies for his alleged possession and intent to distribute the drugs.
Camargo-Corrales, who appeared in court Tuesday, also faces two “special offender” sentence enhancers prosecutors filed because of the large amount of drugs involved in the March 17 bust and their import into Colorado, according to court records.
Eagle County Sheriff's Office
Public defender Kevin Jensen told Eagle County Court Judge Rachel Olguin-Fresquez he has had some early discussions with prosecutors about a possible plea bargain for Camargo-Corrales, who remains in the Eagle County Jail with bond set at $75,000.
Aaron Gaddis, a criminal defense attorney based in Colorado Springs, has also entered the case on behalf of Camargo-Corrales, according to Tuesday’s hearing.
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Carmargo Corrales is next scheduled to appear in court April 6 for a hearing to discuss a possible bond reduction and to potentially request a future hearing to contest the probable cause for the charges that he is facing.
According to an affidavit filed by the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, Camargo-Corrales was driving a silver BMW that a deputy stopped for speeding and drifting into another lane on I-70. Camargo-Corrales and two other passengers reportedly gave differing accounts about where they were going and why, with Camargo-Corrales saying he was driving from Arizona to Denver to teach a kids baseball clinic.
Deputies reportedly got permission to search the car with a K-9, which took interest in the car’s rear wheel well and then alerted to the back seat and trunk. In the rear seat, deputies said they found a white bag holding $1,000 cash. In the car’s trunk, they reportedly found a Chicago Cubs duffel bag Camargo-Corrales said was his. Inside that bag were packages of suspected methamphetamine wrapped in white plastic marked “CO” and packages of suspected oxycodone pills wrapped in green plastic, underneath several baseball gloves and cleats.
Camargo-Corrales, who is originally from Sinaloa, Mexico, told deputies a friend who lives there asked him to deliver the bag to Denver, where he would be paid $500 upon delivery. The two other occupants in the car were released after deputies determined they were not aware of the drugs in the car, according to the affidavit.
Tom Lotshaw can be reached at tlotshaw@vaildaily.com.