
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 20, 1994                   TAG: 9404210016
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

MARIJUANA CHARGES SENT TO GRAND JURY

Charges against two Texas women, who state police said were hauling more than 100 pounds of marijuana through Montgomery County in January, were sent to a grand jury after a preliminary hearing Monday in General District Court

Trooper Joe Diamond pulled a car over just south of an Interstate 81 Radford rest stop on Jan. 22 for using an illegal radar detector.

Police said when the women agreed to allow the car to be searched, Diamond found two suitcases in the trunk that were filled with 117 pounds of marijuana. That's one of the largest in recent memory for state police in Southwest Virginia. Diamond also seized $1,000 in cash.

Amelia Gonzalez Benavidez, 41, and Sagrario Godizez, 42, both of Dallas, were charged with possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute. They have both been held in the Montgomery County Jail since their arrest, unable to post the $250,000 bond that was set.

A grand jury will decide whether to indict the women on the felony charges.

Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by CNB