Suspect in drug shipping case to take plea deal
One of the two suspects charged in connection to shipping marijuana and other narcotic products to buyers in other states was expected to either enter into a plea agreement with prosecutors or have a date set for her trial, neither of which happened Wednesday morning.
Instead, when asked to provide the court with an update of the status of the case at a hearing in Yuma County Superior Court, attorney Richard Edgar, who represents Jasmine Navarro, requested a two-week continuance, but did not offer any reason for it.
“We are going to enter into a plea agreement,” Edgar later answered when asked by Superior Court Judge Brandon Kinsey.
Judge Kinsey then granted Edgar’s request and scheduled a change-of-plea hearing for 8:30 a.m. on June 6.
No terms of the plea agreement were discussed because it has not been accepted in open court yet.
Navarro, who appeared at the hearing out of custody, has been charged with criminal negligence, transportation of a narcotic drug for sale, transportation of marijuana for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, the Yuma County Narcotics Task Force (YCNTF) served a search warrant in October at a residence in the 2000 block of South 7th Avenue in Yuma.
When YCNTF members searched the house, with assistance from YCSO K-9 Jax, they found approximately 12.32 pounds of marijuana, which had an estimated street value of more than $167,000, and 3.55 pounds of marijuana edibles, which was estimated at $32,168. YCNTF members also recovered 28.8 grams of THC wax worth an estimated $1,440, as well as 46 grams of THC oil, worth an estimated $2,300, and additional drug paraphernalia items consistent with narcotic sales. A loaded shotgun was also discovered.
During the course of the investigation, task force members learned that Adrian Humberto Alvarez, who was the suspect of the search warrant, had allegedly been shipping boxes of bulk marijuana and THC oils and waxes to other states throughout the country.