ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) —
A man who has been arrested several times in the Asheville area will spend more than 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to numerous charges Wednesday, the Buncombe County District Attorney’s office said.
Jose Lynn Espada Jr., 47, pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges including trafficking in cocaine, possession of a firearm by a felon and habitual felon and was sentenced to serve an active term of 127-165 months in the custody of the N.C. Department of Adult Correction, a news release from the district attorney’s office said.
Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office deputies who stopped Espada for a traffic violation on Dec. 2, 2022, found a loaded firearm at his feet and more than 3 grams of fentanyl on his person, the news release said. While searching his vehicle, officers found a locked safe containing 55 grams of cocaine and another firearm.
On Feb. 22, 2023, Asheville police responded to Tunnel Road in East Asheville after witnesses reported seeing and hearing a female screaming and running toward a nearby store, the news release said. Officers found the woman, who was transported to Mission Hospital for treatment. The woman told investigators she had been in a fight with Espada and during the fight he assaulted her with his vehicle and she had been thrown from the hood of his car, according to the news release.
When Espada was located, he fled from officers but was caught and arrested. During his arrest, officers found 8.6 grams of cocaine on him, the news release said.
North Carolina law provides for enhanced sentencing of habitual offenders, a status that is obtained upon conviction of three prior felony offenses in separate non-overlapping adjudications, before committing a fourth felony offense.
Sentencing records show Espada had prior convictions of felony breaking and entering, sale of controlled substances, multiple other felonies and that he has served two previous habitual felon sentences, the news release said.
During Wednesday’s sentencing, the vehicle Espada used to store, maintain and traffic cocaine was ordered to be forfeited to law enforcement, the news release said.