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A bingo-playing grandmother from Douglas was found guilty Thursday of hauling 214 pounds of marijuana for sale in a car she drove regularly to Tucson for gambling outings. Leticia Villareal Garcia had testified she was unaware that 10 bundles of pot were hidden in the trunk of her Mercury Grand Marquis when she was stopped by Arizona Department of Public Safety officers outside Bisbee in early 2005. But a Superior Court jury took less than two hours to rule the 61-year-old Garcia had knowingly transported the drug.
The Class 2 felony conviction is punishable by a prison sentence ranging from three to 12 1/2 years. Judge Wallace Hoggatt set formal sentencing for Dec. 18.
Evidence presented in the three-day trial showed Garcia played bingo on frequent basis in Douglas and Tucson, and she occasionally enjoyed winnings of several thousand dollars.
But apart from her sporadic gaming successes and a dwindling inheritance, Garcia testified her only steady source of income was a $275 monthly welfare check she received to help care for her granddaughter. That led prosecutor Doyle Johnstun to suggest a motive for the crime.
"People who play bingo almost every night of the week end up losing in the long run," Johnstun told jurors during his closing statement. "The underlying issue is that she's got a bingo problem, which explains why an otherwise nice person might get sucked into something like this."
Defense attorney Robert Zohlmann called at least a half dozen character witnesses during the trial to attest to Garcia's law-abiding nature. But a juror who spoke anonymously after the verdict noted that nearly all the witnesses had met Garcia in a bingo context, which seemed to support Johnstun's gambling problem argument.
"Those of us who have experience gambling know that it takes money to win big like that," the juror said.
Garcia was arrested on Feb. 12, 2005, after an informant told DPS detectives in Douglas that her Mercury Grand Marquis was headed north on Highway 80 with a load of marijuana hidden in the trunk.
The officer who first pulled her over said Garcia appeared overly nervous, despite the fact that he told her the stop had been for crossing a center line and for having excessively tinted windows.
Later, after the marijuana was discovered in the trunk, Garcia allegedly told another officer: "I know you guys didn't stop me for (the traffic violations). Somebody must have told you about it. I've been to Tucson several times and no one ever stopped me for the tint."
Johnstun argued the remark showed Garcia knew she had been sold out by an informant. Garcia called the statement inaccurate, while Zohlmann suggested she was referring to the tinted windows and not the drugs.
Garcia testified that on the day before her arrest, her son's long-lost godfather, or compadre, had arrived unannounced at her home.
The man borrowed her car that evening and returned to borrow it again the next day before she left for Tucson. When the drugs were found, she said, she immediately thought of her compadre.
Zohlmann argued Garcia had been a "blind mule," unknowingly tricked into ferrying drugs.
But the juror who spoke after the verdict said the amount of pot involved made the theory dubious.
"Nobody is going to use a blind mule for $100,000 of marijuana," the juror said. "He (Garcia's compadre) didn't know her routine. He couldn't be sure that he could recover the drugs."
A sheriff's deputy testified during the trial that the marijuana was worth $80,000 to $160,000 near the border, and even more if sold farther north.
Newshawk: User - 420 Magazine
Source: San Pedro Valley News
Pubdate: 5 December 2006
Author: Jonathan Clark
Copyright: 2006 Benson News
Contact: San Pedro Valley News-Sun | Benson, Arizona
Website: San Pedro Valley News-Sun | Benson, Arizona
The Class 2 felony conviction is punishable by a prison sentence ranging from three to 12 1/2 years. Judge Wallace Hoggatt set formal sentencing for Dec. 18.
Evidence presented in the three-day trial showed Garcia played bingo on frequent basis in Douglas and Tucson, and she occasionally enjoyed winnings of several thousand dollars.
But apart from her sporadic gaming successes and a dwindling inheritance, Garcia testified her only steady source of income was a $275 monthly welfare check she received to help care for her granddaughter. That led prosecutor Doyle Johnstun to suggest a motive for the crime.
"People who play bingo almost every night of the week end up losing in the long run," Johnstun told jurors during his closing statement. "The underlying issue is that she's got a bingo problem, which explains why an otherwise nice person might get sucked into something like this."
Defense attorney Robert Zohlmann called at least a half dozen character witnesses during the trial to attest to Garcia's law-abiding nature. But a juror who spoke anonymously after the verdict noted that nearly all the witnesses had met Garcia in a bingo context, which seemed to support Johnstun's gambling problem argument.
"Those of us who have experience gambling know that it takes money to win big like that," the juror said.
Garcia was arrested on Feb. 12, 2005, after an informant told DPS detectives in Douglas that her Mercury Grand Marquis was headed north on Highway 80 with a load of marijuana hidden in the trunk.
The officer who first pulled her over said Garcia appeared overly nervous, despite the fact that he told her the stop had been for crossing a center line and for having excessively tinted windows.
Later, after the marijuana was discovered in the trunk, Garcia allegedly told another officer: "I know you guys didn't stop me for (the traffic violations). Somebody must have told you about it. I've been to Tucson several times and no one ever stopped me for the tint."
Johnstun argued the remark showed Garcia knew she had been sold out by an informant. Garcia called the statement inaccurate, while Zohlmann suggested she was referring to the tinted windows and not the drugs.
Garcia testified that on the day before her arrest, her son's long-lost godfather, or compadre, had arrived unannounced at her home.
The man borrowed her car that evening and returned to borrow it again the next day before she left for Tucson. When the drugs were found, she said, she immediately thought of her compadre.
Zohlmann argued Garcia had been a "blind mule," unknowingly tricked into ferrying drugs.
But the juror who spoke after the verdict said the amount of pot involved made the theory dubious.
"Nobody is going to use a blind mule for $100,000 of marijuana," the juror said. "He (Garcia's compadre) didn't know her routine. He couldn't be sure that he could recover the drugs."
A sheriff's deputy testified during the trial that the marijuana was worth $80,000 to $160,000 near the border, and even more if sold farther north.
Newshawk: User - 420 Magazine
Source: San Pedro Valley News
Pubdate: 5 December 2006
Author: Jonathan Clark
Copyright: 2006 Benson News
Contact: San Pedro Valley News-Sun | Benson, Arizona
Website: San Pedro Valley News-Sun | Benson, Arizona
