Grandmother jailed for drug trafficking

A 62-year-old bingo playing grandmother got three years in an Arizona prison for transporting more than 200 pounds of marijuana near Tucson.

Leticia Villareal-Garcia was also fined $150,000 Friday, The New York Times reported.

Police were tipped off she would be transporting the drugs on her way to a casino in Tucson to play bingo. The 214 pounds of pot were found hidden in her car trunk.

At her trial in November, she claimed her son's godfather briefly borrowed her car the day before the bust and her attorney claimed she was a "blind mule," tricked into ferrying the drugs.

But, prosecutor Doyle Johnstun said she played bingo almost every night and her only income beside her bingo winnings was a $275 monthly welfare check. He said she had a motive to move the drugs.

"The underlying issue is that she's got a bingo problem," said Johnston, "which explains why an otherwise nice person might get sucked into something like this." // Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Publication date: 29 January 2007

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