DUI, drug charges against Miami man pulled over in the Keys dropped
Charges against a Miami man arrested in January 2019 after deputies in the Florida Keys said he was driving under the influence of alcohol and they found unprescribed anabolic steroids in his car were dropped three years later.
Ilon Fernandez, 43 at the time, pleaded no contest to reckless driving in October 2022. A Monroe County judge withheld adjudication, meaning the judge found him guilty but did not enter a conviction in his record. The Monroe County State Attorney’s Office dropped charges of misdemeanor driving under the influence and felony drug possession without a prescription.
Deputies pulled Fernandez over on Jan. 6, 2019, after they said they saw him speeding and passing cars in the center turn lane as he was driving his red Chevrolet Camaro north on U.S. 1 through Islamorada around 7:40 p.m., according to his arrest report. Deputies were on the lookout for the car after witnesses called 911 about it speeding and weaving in and out of traffic, the report states.
A deputy pulled the car over at mile marker 89, according to the report. .
Deputies cuffed Fernandez “for officer safety” after they saw a Smith and Wesson 9 mm handgun in his glove compartment. He had just told deputies he did not have any weapons in the car, Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputy Ana Coello wrote in her report.
No charges were filed on the gun.
According to the arrest report, deputies smelled a strong odor of alcohol in Fernandez’s car and stated his eyes were watery and red.
Fernandez’s attorney said in a letter Monday to the Herald that what deputies said in their report about were drugs and alcohol “were either never present or not illicit.”
According to Coello’s report, a breath test found Fernandez’s blood alcohol level at .142 grams per 210 liters of breath. The legal limit before operating a car is .08 grams.
When deputies searched the car, they said they found a bottle in the center console containing 3,000 milligrams of steroids, for which Fernandez did not have a prescription. Anabolic steroids are a controlled substance and classified as a narcotic, the arrest report said.
But, his attorney said in the letter that the drugs were not steroids, but in fact, a legally prescribed medication.The attorney’s letter doesn’t say what they were other that they were prescribed.
This story was originally published January 7, 2019 at 3:25 PM with the headline "DUI, drug charges against Miami man pulled over in the Keys dropped."
