Couple Spends Month in Jail Over Possession of Soap

A couple pulled over for speeding ended up spending a month behind bars for having bars of homemade soap which the cops were convinced was cocaine.

Annadel Cruz, 26, and companion Alexander Bernstein, 30, were pulled over in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, on November 13th for going 5 miles over the speed limit on I-78.

A state trooper asked if he could search the car after smelling marijuana in the vehicle. Cruz admitted to smoking a joint before leaving New York City, and consented to the search. 

In the trunk the trooper found two “bricks” wrapped in clear plastic and secured with red tape. The officer allegedly performed a field test on the packages and determined they were two-pound bricks of cocaine.

Cruz insisted the “cocaine” was actually homemade soap, but when officers found a small amount of pot in her bra, they charged the couple with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of cocaine, conspiracy and possession of drug paraphernalia. Cruz was also hit with a marijuana possession charge and two traffic citations.

Cruz was placed behind bars on $250,000 bail while Bernstein was locked up on a $500,000 bail.

Bernstein was able to make his bail last Monday. The very next day, the charges against him and Cruz were dropped. 

A police lab finally confirmed that the bricks were indeed just soap.

Cruz and Bernstein have since hired lawyers, who are going after the flawed process which led to two innocent people spending a month in jail for having homemade soap.

Source: gawker.com