LAKE HAVASU CITY – Probation and jail time were ordered Wednesday after a Lake Havasu City woman entered a plea agreement resolving her drug case in advance of trial.
Jana Vernon, 60, is convicted of a charge reduced to attempted transportation of dangerous drugs for sale while a narcotic drug possession count is dismissed.
Vernon and co-defendant Rick Ives, 58, were arrested following an April 11 traffic stop in the vicinity of Centre Loop on Highway 95. A police report indicated that a police canine alerted to drugs during an open-air sniff of the vehicle.
A subsequent search reportedly resulted in seizure of more than 3.5 ounces of methamphetamine in zip locked bags found under the passenger seat of the vehicle. The report said both defendants admitted when interviewed that they had traveled to California to purchase four ounces of the drug before they returned to Lake Havasu.
“You got us,” Ives told officers, according to the report. “We don’t sell meth. We just get a lot to last us a long time.”
Prosecutor Jennifer Brodie said possession of that amount of drugs is consistent with sales activity. She asked for prison time.
Defense attorney Greg Pridham argued for probation, noting that his client’s only prior brush with the law involved a misdemeanor offense.
And he laid blame on co-defendant Ives as the person who spearheaded the drug transaction.
“My client was a lesser-involved party to the crime,” Pridham said.
Judge Ryan Esplin asked Vernon to explain what brought her before him after six decades of life with just one minor legal blemish on her record. She responded she made bad choices after her 30-year marriage ended in divorce.
“I got involved with the wrong person,” she replied. “I trusted someone I shouldn’t have trusted.”
Vernon said she wants to put the matter behind her and return to a productive life.
Judge Esplin placed Vernon on probation and ordered a 120-day jail sentenced, crediting her with 53 days already spent in custody.
Ives case is still pending.
