Charges Dropped: 'Soap' Not Cocaine, But Boric Acid

By Jack Tobias

Attorney Bob Goldman called it a case of "driving while Latino." 

He was referring to a case involving his client, a New York City woman named Annadel Cruz, who was driving a rental car—a white 2013 Mercedes—on Interstate 78 in South Whitehall last month. She was stopped by state police for apparent traffic violations. 

State police found two brick-size packages in the trunk. She said the bricks were soap she made herself. Police said the bricks field-tested positive for cocaine—more than 2 kilos of cocaine. 

Cruz and her passenger, also from New York City, were charged and jailed and given high bail.

The bricks were sent to a state police lab for further testing. The tests recently came back. The field tests were wrong. The bricks weren't cocaine, but they weren't soap. They were boric acid, which can be used in making liquid soap, according to several websites. 

All charges against Cruz, 26, and her passenger, Alexander Bernstein, 30, were dropped last week. Cruz was released from Lehigh County Prison, where she had been held on $250,000 bail. Both were in prison for about a month. 

"She professed innocence from day one," Goldman said of Cruz. "It's terrible she sat in prison for so long." 

Goldman, a former assistant U.S. attorney and Bucks County prosecutor, says the case is an example of police making assumptions about Cruz based on her ethnicity and the fancy car she was driving. 

He also questioned the traffic-related charges against her—disregard traffic lane and exceeding 55 mph by 5 mph—and how they led police to pulling her over. He confirmed that Cruz had a small amount of marijuana on her when police pulled her over. Court records say Cruz had a small amount of marijuana in her bra.

Goldman, whose office is in the Doylestown-area village of Fountainville, said he and his client have no further legal action planned at this time. 

Trooper Adam Reed of state police headquarters in Harrisburg said state police are conducting "an internal review to make sure policies and procedures were followed."

Reed said an "active investigation" of the case continues.

Debbie Garlicki, a spokeswoman in the Lehigh County District Attorney's office, referred to a comment made Friday by first assistant district attorney Steve Luksa—the charges were withdrawn because results from the state police lab determined the substance in the trunk was boric acid. 

Online court records show that Bernstein's bail, which had been set at $500,000, was reduced to $250,000 last Tuesday (Dec. 10). That same day, Bernstein posted 10 percent of the bail amount and was released from prison—two days before charges against him were dropped. 

Charges against Cruz were dropped Dec. 11, the records say.

Bernstein was represented by attorney James Heidecker Jr. of the Karoly Law Firm of Allentown. 

The court records, which were part of a previous Patch story, said:

—Cruz's car was stopped for "moving violations" around 11:30 p.m. Nov. 13 on westbound I-78 at the Hamilton Boulevard exit.  The trooper who stopped the car smelled marijuana smoke coming from the driver's side. 

—Cruz, the driver, told police the Mercedes was a rental and she and Bernstein were driving from New York to Florida. She told the trooper she had smoked marijuana earlier in the day, but not in the car. She gave police permission to search the car. 

—A check of Bernstein's criminal record showed charges of drug possession and delivery violations. He told police he had a bag in the trunk and gave police permission to search it. 

—The trooper found the two packages covered in clear plastic wrap and red tape. Cruz told police the packages contained soap she had made, but the substance tested positive for cocaine, the affidavit said. The packages weighed a combined 2.372 kilograms.

Cruz and Bernstein were arraigned the following morning by District Judge Jacob Hammond of South Whitehall. Each was charged with two felonies—criminal conspiracy and manufacture, delivery and possession of drugs. 

Cruz also was charged with possession of drugs and possession of a small amount of marijuana, as well as the traffic violations of disregard traffic lane and exceeding 55 mph by 5 mph. Bernstein also was charged with possession of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.