Woman pleads guilty in federal meth case

Published 9:54 pm Tuesday, September 4, 2018

ALBANY, Ga. — A Moultrie woman entered a guilty plea on Tuesday in a 2016 methamphetamine-distribution case in which she was arrested at a law enforcement road check.

Maria Quijano, 33, pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom in Albany to a count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

Quijano was arrested on Sept. 24, 2016, in Grady County, where the Georgia State Patrol was conducting a check for child seat safety, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.

A trooper noticed the smell of burnt marijuana and a search of the car turned up a little more than a third of a pound of meth, the attorney’s office said. In all, officers found 163 grams of methamphetamine, packaged in one large bag and 18 smaller plastic bags, a 9 mm pistol, a digital scale and small amount of marijuana.

When questioned by police, Quijano reportedly told them that she was working off a debt to her drug dealers by picking up drugs in Florida and Texas and had been doing that work for two or three months. She would pass on a portion of the methamphetamine to a supplier and was responsible for selling the remainder.

She told police that the gun belonged to her.

When sentenced Quijano faces a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison — up to life in prison — as well as a fine of up to $10 million, or both.