WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Cuban national, previously convicted of manslaughter and associated with a Middle Tennessee marijuana grow operation, is back behind bars in Williamson County.

On Friday around 1:45 p.m., Williamson County Deputies pulled 35-year-old Hector Jorge Ruiz over on I-840 West for a window tint violation and for making unsafe lane changes.

When the deputy approached the car, he noticed an odor of marijuana. The deputy then asked Ruiz to get out of his 2019 Mercedes.

Ruiz told the deputy he’s owned the car a year and said he had never been pulled over for anything before.

When the deputy told Ruiz he was going to search his car, Ruiz jumped back in his Mercedes and drove off.

The deputy chased Ruiz with speeds reaching 110 mph. Ruiz eventually pulled over and was arrested in a felony take down without further incident.

Deputies found two pounds of marijuana in the front seat.

News 2 has learned Ruiz has a major criminal past.

According to a 2016 press release put out by the Metro Nashville Police Department, the DEA and Homeland Security, Ruiz was arrested as part of a drug operation where Cuban Nationals are accused of growing high grade marijuana and then selling it across Middle Tennessee.

Ruiz was also convicted in the murder of a La Vergne man whose partially burned body was found dumped in the Georgia woods in 2017.

Investigators determined that the murder took place in Davidson County; the investigation involved agents with both the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Officials with the Department of Correction in Tennessee told News 2 Ruiz was admitted to the Davidson County Metropolitan Correctional Work Center on Feb. 9, 2018 and his sentence expired on July 27, 2021.

Ruiz was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 2019, possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony in 2018, along with possession of schedule IV drugs.

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office said Ruiz is currently jailed under a $250,000 bond. He is charged with evading arrest, window tint, following too closely, reckless driving, resisting arrest and possession of schedule VI drugs.

In addition, jail officials said there was also a hold placed on Ruiz from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). When Ruiz is released, ICE is to be notified.