A distraught Bullhead City woman begged for reconsideration when it became clear that a judge was rejecting probation and sending her to prison during a May 3 sentencing hearing in Kingman. Debra Couch, 53, told Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle she entered a plea agreement resolving two drug cases hoping to avoid prison.
“I would have won at trial,” Couch said. “Ms. Couch. You didn’t take it to trial. You pled guilty,” Judge Carlisle responded.
Carlisle told Couch that her guilty plea to attempted possession of dangerous drugs for sale discounted her claim that she was merely present in a home where drugs were allegedly being sold by co-defendant Edward Darling, 51. And Judge Carlisle told Couch he could not ignore her eight prior felony convictions.
Couch said she stayed at the home in the 1900 block of West Robson Circle only because she did not want to disturb her mother by arriving at her house along with the noisy rumble of a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
“I was stupid for going to that house,” Couch said. “I knew what was in that house and I walked into that house anyway.”
Officers seized 5.5 grams of methamphetamine during a September 2017 search of the bedroom she was sharing with Darling.
Judge Carlisle ordered a five-year prison term for Couch. Darling pleaded guilty to possession of dangerous drugs for sale and he faces up to four years in prison when sentenced May 20.
