A Kentucky man was found guilty of possessing 5 kilos of cocaine after a jury trial this week in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga.

Willard Wayne Howard of Crittenden was arrested in December 2005 after he arrived in Cleveland to claim a vehicle that Drug Enforcement officers for the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office stopped on I-75 and found the cocaine hidden inside.

Willard Wayne Howard

When contacted by Howard the DEU officers said they were from a towing company and the vehicle that he asked about had been involved in a crash. Howard traveled to Cleveland to get the vehicle but when he arrived he was arrested. Inside the vehicle he was driving was over $95,000 in cash.

U.S. District Court Judge Curtis L. Collier presided over the trial. The jury found him guilty of possession of 5 kilos of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute 5 kilos of cocaine.

Officials credited the investigation and prosecution to a joint effort of the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office, Det. Carl Maskew of Project Safe Neighborhoods, Special Agent Dave Shelton of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Attorney’s Perry Piper and Scott Winnie.

A co-defendant who was transporting the cocaine pleaded guilty to his charges and is already serving a prison sentence. At the time of the bust the cocaine had an estimated street value of $500,000.

Judge Collier will sentence Howard, 54, on July 24. He has been in custody at the Bradley County jail since his arrest.