CHRISTIANSBURG -- The manager of a Mexican food store in Blacksburg was found not guilty of attempted murder Monday.

But Montgomery County Circuit Judge Bobby Turk did find Alejandro Oceguera guilty of possessing more than 5 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute and eluding police -- both felonies.

The charges stem from an April 4 incident on Interstate 81 in which two state troopers say Oceguera tried to get away from them.

During Oceguera's trial Monday, Virginia State Police Trooper J.T. Thomas testified that he pulled Oceguera over on that April morning for an improper lane change near the 110 mile marker on Interstate 81 after being notified that Oceguera's vehicle, a gold 1995 Saab hatchback, had been spotted traveling in the northbound lane. Oceguera, Thomas said, was a person of interest in another investigation involving the illegal transport of drugs.

Oceguera, who has managed the La Fabulosa Mexican Store on South Main Street, at first heeded the trooper's signal to pull over. Thomas said Oceguera initially was cooperative but became increasingly nervous when the trooper told him he had learned of a pending narcotics charge in another state. Thomas informed Oceguera that a police dog was on its way and turned to go back to his cruiser. That's when Oceguera sped off, prompting Thomas to chase Oceguera's Saab at speeds exceeding 100 mph, according to the trooper's testimony.

When the Saab cut off a tractor-trailer just past Exit 114, Thomas said he was forced into the guardrail.

He continued to pursue Oceguera for about 6 miles, and at that point the Saab veered into the median, heading into southbound traffic after another state police car driven by Sgt. Jason Robinson forced him off the northbound lane. A tractor-trailer clipped the Saab, causing it to spin around before coming to rest. That crash at about 10:30 a.m. caused traffic to back up for several miles on the interstate's southbound side.

Oceguera was arrested and a trash bag containing more than 5 pounds of marijuana was later found in the spare tire well of his car, according to testimony.

Oceguera, who has been in jail since his arrest that day, faced charges of possession of more than 5 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute, transporting marijuana across state lines, eluding police and failure to give a proper traffic signal, in addition to the attempted first-degree murder charge.

Turk said in finding Oceguera not guilty of the latter that the commonwealth was unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Oceguera intended to kill Thomas.

Oceguera, who took the stand in his own defense, admitted running from the trooper, saying, "I was frightened. I knew I had 5 pounds of marijuana in my trunk."

The resident alien, who has lived in the United States since infancy, said he had agreed to pick up marijuana from a dealer in Fancy Gap for $1,000. He refused to name the person who paid him for the pick-up, saying that naming the person would put his family in danger.

He also said it was the first time he had delivered marijuana and that he did it because "I had some credit cards I had to pay off."

Oceguera also said he never intended to harm anyone and that he did not intentionally swerve his car at Thomas.

Turk also found Oceguera not guilty on the charge of transporting marijuana across the state line. He said it could not be proven that Oceguera brought the marijuana from North Carolina where he had been earlier the morning of April 4 to pick up sweet breads for his Blacksburg store.

"To be perfectly honest," Turk said, "I think this has been going on for some time and he just happened to get caught this day."

Turk also dismissed the improper lane change.

The court set his sentencing for Oct. 29.

Oceguera's sister burst into tears following Turk's ruling, relieved that her brother was not guilty of the attempted first-degree murder charge.