ALAMOSA — Pursuing “a stupid hippy dream” earned Luis Cueto, 39, seven years in prison.

“For 37 years I never even had a parking ticket,” Cueto told District Judge Michael Gonzales during his recent sentencing on drug charges. He said he came to Colorado from Puerto Rico on “a stupid hippy dream” and became involved in drugs.

“I am not a big fish,” he added. “I am a goldfish in a shark tank … I am not a big time nothing. I am just nobody that came here on a hippy adventure and am trying to get back to my family … I am tired of all this.”

Cueto said he wanted to go home and help his father with the family business. He said he came to the San Luis Valley and fell in love with Mt. Blanca, but his dream turned into a nightmare.

He apologized to the court and to his family.

“You have no one to apologize to other than yourself,” Judge Gonzales told Cueto. “You let yourself down.”

Gonzales encouraged Cueto to try to be a leader to younger people in prison so they would learn from his story and work towards better lives for themselves. The judge sentenced Cueto to seven years on two felony drug charges.

Prosecution and defense attorneys said Cueto had a drug addiction problem, and they hoped he would receive the treatment he needed.