Woman With More Than 160 Pounds Of Marijuana In Rental Car Faces Up To 20 Years In Federal Prison On Federal Drug Distribution Conviction

LUBBOCK, Texas — A woman who was found driving east on Interstate 20 in the Abilene, Texas, vicinity, at approximately five miles per hour on Christmas Day 2013, appeared in federal court on Friday and pleaded guilty to a federal felony drug offense, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Christini Lynn Brashear, 45, of Rocklin, California, pleaded guilty, before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, to an indictment charging one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine. Judge Cummings ordered a presentence investigation report with a sentencing date to be set after the completion of that report. Brashear remains on bond.

According to documents filed in the case, on December 25, 2013, the Abilene Police Department received multiple calls regarding a small sport utility vehicle that was on Interstate 20 traveling east at approximately five miles per hour. Officers located the vehicle and found it parked on the shoulder of the highway with Brashear asleep at the wheel. Officers called for emergency medical assistance for Brashear and advised her she was being taken to the hospital. She consented to an officer driving her car to the hospital to avoid having it towed, and she admitted using and possessing methamphetamine, which she turned over to the officers.

The officer driving Brashear’s vehicle noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle and later confirmed that the smell was coming from several duffle bags in the back that contained approximately 166 pounds of marijuana, individually bagged in one-pound clear plastic bags. The vehicle also contained multiple cell phones, two road atlases, and a note pad with hand-written directions to Houston, Texas. Rental papers for the vehicle show that it was rented to Brashear in Sacramento, California, on December 22, 2013, and it was due back to that location on December 26, 2013.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Abilene Police Department investigated. Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Williams is prosecuting.