Federal magistrate judge orders Lavona T. Anderson, 29, accused of smuggling a pound of cocaine into the country by swallowing bindles of the narcotic, be released to a halfway house as the case is pending.
www.oregonlive.com
Alleged drug smuggler was on long-term leave from security guard job, prosecutor says
- Updated: Feb. 25, 2014, 9:16 p.m.|
- Published: Feb. 25, 2014, 8:16 p.m.
By
A 29-year-old woman accused of smuggling a pound of cocaine into and across the country before passing out at Portland International Airport this month -allegedly from two bindles of the drug that burst inside her stomach - was on long-term medical leave from a security guard job at the time, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.
Jennifer J. Martin, an assistant U.S. Attorney, argued in court that Lavona T. Anderson should be ordered to remain in custody, calling her a flight risk. She faces one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in federal court.
Lavona T. Anderson, 29
Martin cited three international trips that Anderson made since December: one from New York to Cuba and then to Alaska in mid-December; another Jan. 14 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the Dominican Republic and then back to Puerto Rico before flying on to Alaska, and the third on Jan. 31 to the Dominican Republic via New York then back to New York Feb. 2, before flying into Portland the next night, where she had a medical emergency. Federal authorities said Anderson had planned to continue on to Alaska.
Anderson was treated at Portland Adventist Medical Center, where she passed pellets that tested positive for cocaine, according to a federal complaint
. Medical imagery of her intestinal track showed she had swallowed an unknown number of pellets, according to a court affidavit.
Investigators believe that Anderson ingested a total of one pound of cocaine before arriving in Portland. Two bindles of cocaine - each containing about 6.5 grams of the drug - ruptured inside Anderson's stomach, the court document said.. She was found unconscious in an airport bathroom on Feb. 3, according to court documents.
Anderson is a lifelong resident of New York, worked as a security guard for an extensive period of time and has no prior criminal history, assistant federal public defender Thomas J. Hester told the court. He urged the court to release Anderson to a halfway house, and then work to arrange her return to New York.
Her employer was not identified in court.
Magistrate Judge Paul Papak decided he would allow Anderson's release to a halfway house as soon as a bed became available but restrict her from leaving Oregon. Papak said Anderson and her lawyer would have to return to court before any decision is made to return Anderson to New York, "so we're not just putting her on a bus heading eastward. That's not a good idea.''
--Maxine Bernstein
www.krem.com
Monday at the Portland International Airport, police said.
