Sharon Kay Carter, 43, also known as Sharon Straw, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. She will be sentenced May 2 by Judge Benjamin Settle.
When her name was Sharon Straw, The Daily News did a series of stories in 1987 through 1995 about her family's ordeal. Her daughter, who was born in 1987 with a serious liver disorder, had a successful liver transplant in 1995.
Carter was arrested in Longview Aug. 2, Sept. 23 and Oct. 23, each time on suspicion of dealing large quantities of methamphetamine. After the first and second arrests, she posted $50,000 and $70,000 bail respectively.
After arresting Carter for the third time, local authorities asked federal authorities to look at her case. It met criteria for federal drug trafficking charges, said assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Friedman, who prosecuted the case.
"The quantities were significant," he said. "She would have in her possession half-pound quantities. More significantly, she appeared to be not responding to the state machinery. She would be arrested on a search warrant ... go in jail, get out on bond and immediately return to the same type of activity. Clearly she wasn't being impacted at all by the state court system, whereas typically one would be. She was therefore charged federally."
She was indicted by a federal grand jury Dec. 19.
Federal authorities arrested her at the Cowlitz County Jail while she was trying to get her friends to post $200,000 bail, Friedman said. Once she was in federal custody, she was held without bail, he said.
"It's sort of like, 'Enough's enough.' "
Her first arrest was the result of a three-month investigation by the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Narcotics Task Force into drug trafficking. Agents served a search warrant at Carter's house and seized methamphetamine packaged for sale, scales, $4,750 cash proceeds and a loaded 9 mm Makarov semiautomatic pistol.
On Sept. 14, while out on bond awaiting trial, Carter met with a law enforcement operative at the Towne House Motel in Longview and, during a recorded transaction, sold the operative a quarter-ounce of methamphetamine for $300, according to court documents.
On Sept. 23, a uniformed Longview Police patrol officer stopped Carter for a traffic infraction. A search of her purse and belongings revealed methamphetamine and marijuana packaged for sale, scales and $3,514 cash drug proceeds, and she was arrested.
On Oct. 23, the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office served a search warrant at Carter's residence at 199 Lazy Road, based on further evidence that she continued to sell drugs. In her purse, officers found methamphetamine and marijuana packaged for sale, a scale, packaging materials and $3,631 drug proceeds. Detectives seized about 173 grams of methamphetamine.
Carter's offense is punishable by imprisonment of five to 40 years, a fine of up to $2 million, and a mandatory period of supervised release of at least four years.
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