NEW YORK - An El Paso, Texas couple was indicted Tuesday for their link to an abandoned cocaine-stuffed sofa that spewed millions of dollars worth of white powder when heaved into a New York City sanitation truck.
Eddie Gutierrez and Susan Hernandez were indicted in Manhattan federal court for narcotics conspiracy and possession with the intent to distribute and distribution of the 400 pounds (182 kg) of cocaine. Authorities estimated its street value at some $8 million.
If convicted each defendant could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
According to the indictment, the sofa was left inside an abandoned U-Haul trailer attached to a pickup truck parked on Manhattan's upper east side. The truck had parking tickets dating back to March 28, 2002, on it and Gutierrez's name was handwritten on the truck's temporary Texas license plate.
According to the charges, the couple allegedly used the truck and trailer to transport the couch filled with cocaine from El Paso to Manhattan.
The New York Police Department notified U-Haul about the trailer and U-Haul took the trailer back to a rental center in the Bronx. U-Haul employees then left the couch for sanitation pick-up on East 137th Street near Bruckner Boulevard in May.
According to newspaper reports at the time, sanitation workers heaved the sofa into a city garbage truck and fine white powder filled the air when the truck's compactor smashed the sofa.
Authorities traced the couch back to the couple, who were arrested last month in El Paso.
