Man caught mailing marijuana to Mooresville

A man pleaded guilty on Aug. 6 in Iredell County to attempted trafficking of marijuana and possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.

Takaaki Ishbashi was sentenced to between 9 and 25 months of active time in prison and he will be deported to Japan after he’s released, the Iredell County sheriff’s office said Monday.

The sheriff’s office began investigating in January, it said, after a suspicious package was delivered to a Mooresville storage unit rented under Ishbashi’s name. There were 10 pounds of marijuana inside. Over the next four days, more packages of marijuana were delivered, according to the sheriff’s office.

Ishbashi was followed from the storage unit to Kannapolis, where he was stopped and his vehicle searched, the sheriff’s office said. Keys to storage units in Huntersville, Kannapolis, Concord and Pineville were found and 31 more pounds of marijuana discovered, according to the sheriff’s office.

This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Man caught mailing marijuana to Mooresville."