Man caught with meth, machetes in Nebraska traffic stop is sentenced

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Minnesota man will spend over six years in prison after he was caught with drugs and weapons in a Nebraska traffic stop.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Jeno Paulucci, 42, was sentenced Tuesday to six years and six months in prison for possession of meth with the intent to distribute.

On Aug. 3, 2022, authorities were conducting a checkpoint on Interstate 80 in Dawson County.

Paulucci, who was driving a Cadillac Escalade, was pulled over after he got off the interstate and parked on the wrong side of the road.

During the traffic stop, authorities smelled marijuana coming from inside the vehicle, the attorney’s office said.

Paulucci did not have a driver’s license, registration or insurance.

Authorities searched the vehicle and found 63 grams of meth, cocaine, fentanyl pills, ecstasy pills and kief, a cannabis concentrate.

Two machetes, multiple-bladed weapons, a baton taser and a firearm were also found in the Cadillac, according to the attorney’s office.

After his prison sentence, Paulucci will serve a three-year term of supervised release.

U.S. District Judge John Gerrard also ordered Paulucci to forfeit “any interest” he had in the Cadillac, the attorney’s office said.

Patrick Lewis McKinney, who was in the car during the traffic stop, pleaded guilty on April 17 to possessing meth with the intent to distribute.

He was also sentenced to six years and six months in prison.

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