Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502150055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Amelia Benavidez Gonzalez, 42, of Dallas, was one of two women charged Jan. 22, 1994, after state Trooper Joe Diamond found 115 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of a rental car he had stopped near Radford for suspicion of using a radar detector.
In December, Montgomery County Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs dismissed the same charge against Sagrario Godinez, a co-worker of Benavidez Gonzalez at a Texas factory. Godinez testified Dec. 7 that she knew nothing about the marijuana and simply was helping her friend - who did not own a credit card - rent a car to move a boyfriend's belongings to Virginia.
Benavidez Gonzalez twice before had been in Circuit Court to enter a plea to the charge against her, but both times she changed her mind, leading Grubbs in December to order that a jury trial be scheduled.
The Spanish-speaking woman, who doesn't understand English, had a friend write her lawyer a letter - with copies to Grubbs and Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith - apologizing for any problems her hesitancy had caused.
The letter stated that she was "nervous and confused" while answering standard questions asked during plea agreements and needed an interpreter to explain things to her before and during court.
Benavidez Gonzalez asked for an opportunity to explain to the judge ``that she is guilty of having the suitcases in the car, but she did not know they contained marijuana.''
On Monday, Benavidez Gonzalez was given a 10-year prison sentence. After serving five years, she is to be released and placed on probation for five years. She has been held in the Montgomery County Jail since her arrest.
The state trooper had stopped the car and issued a summons for having a radar detector, which is illegal in Virginia. He testified in December that he found the marijuana after the women agreed to let him search the car, assuring him they had no drugs or weapons.
The marijuana had been compressed into large, bricklike packages and stored in two suitcases in the car's trunk, Diamond testified.
At her December hearing, Godinez testified that 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.
by CNB