A simple traffic stop over an illuminated dashboard sign has resulted in an eight-year prison sentence for a Florida woman caught with fentanyl and cocaine.
The case began in 2019 when a police officer in Manatee County pulled over Tamara Jeanette Cadet. The officer didn’t stop her for speeding or running a red light. Instead, she was pulled over because she had a glowing blue Uber sign sitting on her dashboard.
After walking up to the car, the officer smelled marijuana. That gave police the right to search the vehicle, and they soon found fentanyl and cocaine hidden inside the center console.
Cadet eventually pleaded no contest to trafficking in fentanyl and possessing cocaine with intent to sell, and a judge handed down an eight-year prison sentence. She later appealed the decision, arguing that the police never had a valid reason to pull her over in the first place.
Her defense claimed the glowing Uber sign didn’t actually count as a prohibited lamp or device under Florida’s vehicle code, suggesting the state never intended to ban rideshare drivers from using signs that help riders safely identify their cars.
On Wednesday, the Second District Court of Appeal rejected that argument and upheld her conviction.
Florida law strictly prohibits civilian vehicles from displaying blue lights, reserving them almost entirely for police and specific correctional vehicles. During the initial court hearings, prosecutors made their stance very clear, arguing to the judge, “We don’t want blue lights on cars, period.”
The appeals court agreed. Writing for the court, Judge Rothstein-Youakim noted that an illuminated Uber sign easily fits the legal definition of a restricted item.
The court ruled that the state statute broadly and intentionally captures any equipment that “shows” or “displays” blue light visible from the front of the vehicle. Because the sign violated this rule, the officer had clear probable cause to initiate the traffic stop, making the subsequent drug discovery fully legal and admissible in court.
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