State troopers tried to pull over a silver SUV near Roma. The driver hit the gas instead. Ten minutes later the chase was done. In the back sat 43 bundles of weed.

David Garcia, 27, of Zapata pleaded guilty in federal court in McAllen on Wednesday, Aug. 26. He admitted he moved close to 500 pounds of marijuana through Starr County.

"You knew it was illegal?" U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano asked him in court. "You did it of your own free will?"

"Yes," Garcia said.

That one word ends the fight. It also puts Garcia in line for a long stretch behind bars. He faces 5 to 40 years in federal prison. The law sets a floor of 5 years on this charge. It sets a top of 40. The judge picks the number in between.

The case started on a Starr County road in May. Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety tried to stop the silver SUV at 7:26 a.m. on May 27, near Roma. Garcia was at the wheel. He would not stop.

The chase ran about 10 minutes through the county. It was not a slow one.

The SUV "drove at a high rate of speed" and "drove against oncoming traffic," the criminal complaint says. It blew past traffic lights and lane lines. Troopers tried twice to force the SUV off the road. They used a move called a PIT maneuver. Troopers use it to make a running car spin out and stop. Both tries failed.

About 10 minutes in, Garcia pulled over on his own. Troopers put him in cuffs.

Then they opened up the SUV. Inside they found 43 bundles wrapped in cellophane. The bundles were square cut and stacked. The weed weighed close to 500 pounds. That is a big load for one truck on a county road.

Homeland Security Investigations took the case. That agency is part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Once HSI took it, the case went to federal court in McAllen. It did not stay in a state court in Rio Grande City. That switch matters. Federal drug charges carry longer terms than most state ones.

A federal grand jury handed up two charges. One was a plot to hold 100 kilos or more of marijuana and sell it. The other was holding about 226 kilos and planning to sell it. In pounds, 226 kilos is about 498.

Garcia gave up his right to a hearing on those charges in June. He pleaded not guilty then. Two months later he changed his answer.

By the time he said yes to the judge, Garcia had sat in jail about three months.

He is not sentenced yet. A judge will hand down that number on Nov. 4. Until then the 5 to 40 year range is all anyone knows.

A lot of the story is still blank. The court papers do not say where the load was going. They do not say who packed it or who paid for the drive. No one else has been charged in this case. Garcia is the only name on it.

Starr County has seen loads like this before. The roads near Roma run close to the river. A driver can be on a highway a few minutes after a load comes across. Troopers work those roads for that reason.

What happens next is up to the judge. Federal judges weigh how much of the drug was in the truck. They weigh the chase and the risk to other drivers. They weigh whether the driver owned up early or fought first.

Garcia fought for two months. Then he stopped fighting.

ValleyCentral first reported the guilty plea. El Tejano will follow the case to sentencing in November.