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

DATE: THURSDAY, December 8, 1994                   TAG: 9412080045
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

WOMAN UNWITTINGLY HELPED PAL CART DRUGS, JUDGE RULES

Instead, the women were stopped Jan. 22 on Interstate 81 near Radford about 35 miles from their destination and charged with possessing marijuana with intent to distribute after 115 pounds of the drug were found in the trunk of the rental car. State police said the stash was one of the largest in recent memory and had an estimated street value of $175,000.

State Trooper Joe Diamond also seized $1,000 in cash.

Godinez maintained she knew nothing about the marijuana and was simply helping her friend - who did not own a credit card - rent a car to help move her boyfriend's belongings to Virginia. Godinez pleaded not guilty during a Wednesday hearing in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

After hearing Godinez's explanation, Judge Ray Grubbs dismissed the charge, granting a motion by her lawyer, Joe Painter of Blacksburg, to throw out the case.

Diamond had stopped the rental car and issued a summons for having a radar detector, which is illegal in Virginia. He found the marijuana after the women agreed to let him search the car, assuring him they had no drugs or weapons.

The women said they expected to be staying in Roanoke for several days, but Diamond saw only a coat and a Cracker Barrel gift shop bag in the car's back seat.

"I didn't think they had anything. I was just going to check," Diamond testified before showing a videotape of the traffic stop and his discovery of the marijuana, compressed into large brick-like packages and stored in two suitcases in the car's trunk.

"I've almost hit the mother lode," Diamond radioed to state police dispatchers, asking for backup.

Diamond testified the 50 bricks of marijuana had been wrapped in cellophane, dipped in motor oil and wrapped in cellophane again, a common tactic used to mask the recognizable pungent odor of the plant material.

The women, both in their early 40s, speak primarily Spanish and understand only a little English. Both had interpreters for their courtroom appearances.

The driver of the car, Amelia Benavidez Gonzalez, was scheduled to enter a guilty plea Wednesday before Godinez's case was heard.

But when Grubbs asked her if she was pleading guilty because she was, in fact, guilty, Benavidez Gonzalez paused for a long time, then asked for a full hearing.

"I believe this is the second time this has happened ... You're through jerking this court around," Grubbs said, ordering the woman back to jail until a jury trial could be scheduled.

Godinez said she didn't know the drugs were in the trunk.

Benavidez Gonzalez had the car to herself for three hours before picking her up to begin the trip, saying she was going to pick up suitcases that belonged to her boyfriend, Godinez testified. And Benavidez Gonzalez put the women's overnight bag into the trunk, Godinez testified.

"No, I never even saw the suitcases. I swear I didn't know anything," Godinez testified through her interpreter.

Benavidez Gonzalez has been in the Montgomery County Jail since her arrest. Godinez was released after the factory where she is a supervisor posted her bond.

Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith said after court that he believed Godinez's explanation.

"It's just fortunate in her case that she made bond and was not locked up" for the entire time since her arrest, Keith said.