Juan Jose Vidrio Bibriesca was in court for a felony drug charge when he took off his hat before the judge, and cocaine fell out of it. He's back in jail on two more felony charges.

Theresa Reno |

EAGLE — Let this be a lesson to you: When you’re in court before the judge, and you doff your cap in deference, make sure your cocaine does not fall out of your hat and onto the floor where both the judge and the cops can see it.

And it would help if you weren’t in court on a separate felony drug charge in the first place.

Juan Jose Vidrio Bibriesca, 43, was one of three defendants at the podium before Eagle County Court Judge Katharine Sullivan. Bibriesca was in Judge Sullivan’s company for a bond violation on a separate felony drug charge.

Apparently, Bibriesca was raised to be polite. When he reached the podium in the middle of Sullivan’s courtroom, he removed his hat, as a gentleman would, and held it behind his back in both hands.

As he swung his hat behind his back, a small square of folded paper fell from it and landed on the floor behind him.

A local law enforcement officer was in the gallery, behind the threesome at the podium, and watched the whole thing.

At first, the officer thought the bindle had been dropped by one of the other two men at the podium.

However, another officer in the courtroom suggested that since the courtroom is packed with video surveillance gear, they should invoke the courtroom equivalent of the NFL’s video review rule and take a look at the replay.

Sure enough, right there in slow motion was video evidence that Bibriesca, who we’ll remind you was already in court on a felony drug charge, appeared to have cocaine in his hat, the hat from which that cocaine appeared to fall and land on the floor of a courtroom, mere yards from the front door of the Eagle County jail, to which he was whisked almost immediately.

Bibriesca appeared Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 8, before District Court Judge Paul Dunkelman, where he learned that he now faces two more charges: narcotics possession and bond violation, both felonies.

Bibriesca was born in Mexico and is reportedly in the country illegally, which means Immigration and Customs Enforcement will also want a word with him.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 or rwyrick@vaildaily.com.