Pot possessing driver to be sentenced

A Bonita man has pleaded guilty to possessing more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana found in a truck he was driving which was discovered in a routine traffic stop by Chula Vista police in 2013.

Christopher Velazquez, who is in his 20s, will be sentenced on Nov. 9 by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Anello. Velazquez remains free on $100,000 bond while he lives with a relative.

While the maximum sentence is life in federal prison, Velazquez will likely get much less time since federal guidelines prohibit such a sentence.

Velazquez was driving a white box truck as he left a building in the 1600 block of Brandywine Avenue in Chula Vista on Oct. 26, 2013, as seen under police surveillance. Velazquez parked the truck on Anita Street. When he drove it later stopped it on Industrial Boulevard at 8:50 p.m.

Velazquez was initially charged in Chula Vista Superior Court, but the case was dismissed and later filed in federal court.