Man denies Federal cocaine distribution charge

By Linda Cicoira

A New York man who was arrested on the Eastern Shore of Virginia in March and charged with possessing about 5.2 kilograms of cocaine with the intent to distribute denied committing the crime in U.S. District Court recently.

Forty-nine-year-old John Valentin, of the Bronx, is in the custody of federal authorities awaiting trial.

Court records state that he was driving a 2011 Dodge SUV with Georgia license plates on Lankford Highway near the intersection of Broadwater Road on March 28, when an officer observed him failing to stay in his lane. Valentin was pulled over near the intersection of the highway and Bayside Road. He told police he was on his way to Hampton.

A police dog found a positive alert for the presence and/or odor of narcotics coming from the SUV. A search ensued, the court record continued, and investigators found a hidden compartment under the back bench seat, which contained three rectangular objects wrapped in white tape. A field test showed the objects contained cocaine.

Valentin waived his right to a preliminary hearing. A jury trial was set for June 23 in Newport News.

Prior to this charge, Valentin was convicted in the Eastern District of North Carolina of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of crack cocaine and possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He was on probation at the time of his arrest.