Bigelow, 21, is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 12 for a crime that carries a zero- to 5-year sentence. “Guilty,” Bigelow said when asked by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rose for how she pleaded to the lowest of three indicted counts.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed counts of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. Rose said a pre-sentence report will be compiled.
RELATED: 26 pounds of meth found in vehicle on I-70
Defense attorney Aaron Durden said his client may qualify for a “safety valve” provision in federal sentencings.
That definition is for low-level participants in drug cases in which no one was harmed, the person has little or no criminal history, the person did not use violence or a gun and the person did tell the prosecution everything they knew about the offense, according to the Families Against Mandatory Minimums website.
Assistant U.S. attorney Laura Clemmens read a summary of the statement of facts, which indicated Bigelow was recruited to drive from Arizona to Ohio for redistribution. Law enforcement said they seized 26 pounds of methamphetamine from a car occupied by Bigelow and co-defendant Dennis Olinger.
Bigelow also admitted to bond violations for testing positive for drugs three times. Rose ordered Bigelow to take part in a 7-day detox and 28-day in-patient program.
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Rose said it was a glass half full or half empty situation.
“If you do mess up, you will be in jail that fast,” the judge said, snapping his fingers.
After Bigelow’s hearing, co-defendant Waiman Yu was granted a continuance of his trial, which was to begin Sept. 25.
Instead, the date was pushed back to Nov. 13 to allow for a possible resolution.
(ORIGINAL STORY)
A 20-year-old woman federally indicted on three counts related to law enforcement finding 26 pounds of methamphetamine in a vehicle is scheduled to change her plea today.
Haley N. Bigelow and co-defendant Waiman Yu were to go to trial Sept. 25 in Dayton’s U.S. District Court.
But Bigelow now is scheduled to appear for a change of plea, while Yu is scheduled for a meeting hearing, both today.
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In a motion to continue, Yu’s attorney wrote that plea negotiations are ongoing, but likely wouldn’t be completed before trial.
Another co-defendant, Dennis Olinger, pleaded guilty of knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. Olinger is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 12.
Olinger, 40, and Bigelow were charged after a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency task force wrote in a criminal complaint that the two were stopped on Interstate 70 after speeding.
Assistant U.S. attorney Brent Tabacchi has said 26 pounds of meth could have a street value of nearly $400,000, though prosecutors say values vary greatly depending on several criteria.
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The criminal complaint said that after the Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper stopped the blue Volkswagen Passat in the eastbound lane of the highway in Preble County, Olinger could not provide a driver’s license.
Olinger said he and Bigelow, whom he identified as his girlfriend, were on their way back from a fair in Missouri, according to the complaint.
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The DEA officer wrote that Bigelow could not provide Olinger’s name to the trooper and that she said they were just friends.
Within two “traps” or hidden compartments in the car, the officer wrote, troopers found 26 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and also located about $2,000 in Bigelow’s purse.
Yu, 39, was arrested July 17 after the DEA put a GPS tracking device on his car and stopped him with drugs in his Hyundai Elantra, according to a federal search warrant affidavit and return. Yu had been driving the Passat before Olinger and Bigelow were stopped in it.
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