Pedro Mota,Jesus Ruiz,Erick Clisby,Cornell Clisby

Arrested Jesus Ruiz; his accused supplier, Pedro Mota; and two local men who prosecutors say were on the receiving end of the drug deal.<br />Agents seized $1.09 million in cash and the cocaine, which has a street value of $7 million.<br />Ruiz folded immediately, co-operating with authorities to help catch his alleged co-conspirators.<br />He led agents to Erick Clisby, 39, of Forest Park, and his cousin Cornell Clisby, 40, of Springdale. All three face charges of trafficking in cocaine, possessing cocaine and conspiracy.<br />Agents also nabbed accused supplier Mota, 28, of Texas, who is awaiting trial on the same charges.<br />Erick Clisby's trial started Monday. He faces up to 40 years in prison.<br />His lawyer, Richard Goldberg, told the jury Wednesday his client was a victim of circumstances and was not guilty because Cornell Clisby was the drug runner, not his client.<br />Ruiz, his hands cuffed in front of him, told the jury what happened in a December drug transaction and what was about to go down when he was caught.<br />Ruiz said he made his first drug run to Cincinnati in December 2006, meeting the Clisbys at a superstore, then following them to Erick Clisby's Forest Park auto body shop, where he turned the drugs over to Erick Clisby.<br />Ruiz didn't get caught and might have stopped, except Mota double-crossed him, he said.<br />He said if Ruiz wanted cash, he had to make another drug run to Cincinnati, Ruiz testified.<br />"I really didn't want to because he didn't pay me the first time," Ruiz said. "He was like, 'Come on, come on.' I was already out of options. The bank was going to repossess my truck."<br />The cocaine was mashed into bricks, wrapped in plastic and tucked into two black duffle bags when Ruiz pulled out of Laredo, Texas, on his way to Cincinnati in mid-January 2007.<br />Just like the first time, when Ruiz got close to the city he called a cell phone number provided by Mota, he said. Prosecutors said Cornell Clisby was on the other end of the phone.<br />Early on the morning of Jan. 15, Ruiz was exhausted from the long trip through an ice and snow storm that was so bad roads were closed. He pulled into a western Hamilton County truck stop.<br />Ruiz said he nodded off immediately, only to be awakened about 10 a.m. by RENU agent Timothy Nash, who was doing a routine check of the county's only truck stop on his way into work.<br />"I was thinking, 'What did I do to deserve a search?' " Ruiz said. "I guess it was just how the truck looked. To this day, it's still mind-boggling why he came up to me."<br />Trying to stay calm, Ruiz granted Nash permission to search the truck.<br />"I was trying to keep cool, play it off," Ruiz said. "I didn't think he was going to go in the cab."<br />But Nash did. He found the cocaine right away.<br />"I felt empty," Ruiz said. "My body was like, my life is over."<br />Ruiz said he just put his hands behind his back and let the agent handcuff him.<br />"They wanted to know where I was going," he said. "I knew I was already in a big hole. The only way they would help me out was to co-operate.<br />"I did what I thought would be the right choice for myself," he said.

Pedro Mota,Jesus Ruiz,Erick Clisby,Cornell Clisby

Arrested Jesus Ruiz; his accused supplier, Pedro Mota; and two local men who prosecutors say were on the receiving end of the drug deal. Age...

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