Trooper testifies against I-85 driver

At an I-85 traffic stop, trooper Kevin Rholetter said the driver of an Audi automobile told him the car was carrying seven pounds of marijuana.  Rholetter quotes Anousack Thanonglit as saying he was on his way from Atlanta to Charlotte and was being paid $700 dollars to transport the drugs.  Thanonglit went on trial yesterday in the Oconee General Sessions Court, charged May 4, 2013 with trafficking in cocaine and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.  Rholetter said he stopped the car near exit 2 because it was going 80 miles an hour in a 65-zone.  He said as he approached the car, he smelled marijuana from a partially-opened side window.  In pre-trial motions, the defendant’s attorneys attempted to suppress a video camera recording of the traffic stop.  They also tried to persuade the judge to quash the cocaine trafficking indictment because of an error in the heading of the indictment.