MA - Husband, wife jailed on marijuana charges

[Hash]

Boston - A former Newton resident and her husband who provided false home addresses when arrested and accused of possession of more than 5,000 pounds of marijuana, have been ordered detained without bail after presentation of audio and video evidence of the pair loading trash bags of the drug into their van last December in Billerica.

Sandra Saunders and husband Leon Romprey, who subsequently admitted to living in Rumney, N.H., were arrested Dec. 20, 2004, after federal agents observed the husband-wife team driving into a Billerica warehouse and transferring large, heavy trash bags of marijuana from a tractor-trailer into their van, and were back in court last week for a detention hearing.

According to Special Agent Kristen Rosenbeck, following its interception by federal agents in late November, more than 1,500 pounds of marijuana was driven from Texas to the Billerica site by an undercover agent. After its arrival, Rosenbeck testified, one of the individuals in the warehouse was heard complaining about the condition of the "cover load," or packaging and coffee grounds used to conceal the presence of the marijuana.

After the Saunders-Romprey duo loaded the marijuana-laden trash bags into their white van, they drove away and were subsequently stopped and arrested. A search of the van revealed 67 "bricks" of marijuana, wrapped in cellophane, greased and covered with coffee grounds and stuffed inside the trash bags.

In ordering the couple's detention, U.S. Magistrate Joyce London Alexander observed that each of the defendants initially provided false home addresses. While Saunders receives mail at the Newton address she provided arresting officers, the magistrate observed, she only lived in Newton for a short time while working as a home health aide in 2003. Romprey earlier provided his father's Franklin, N.H., address.

The magistrate noted that, if convicted, they each face up to 10 years' imprisonment and "the amount of marijuana at issue in this case is clearly cause for concern." She took note of Romprey's record of previous defaults and Saunders' prior felony convictions in ordering their detention pending trial.



Source: Daily News Tribune
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[rascal]

Bummer man good pot going to the feds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!