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Women sentenced to 30 months for trafficking drugs

LISBON –The Chicago woman caught driving through the county with five pounds of marijuana hidden in her SUV and $135,000 in cash was sentenced to prison Friday in county Common Pleas Court.

Terri L. Bailey, 28, was sentenced by Judge C. Ashley Pike to 30 months in a state prison, six months less than was recommended by Assistant County Prosecutor Tammie Riley Jones, after previously pleading guilty to trafficking in drugs and having hidden compartments in a motor vehicle to transport contraband.

Bailey was charged after being stopped for speeding by an Ohio Highway Patrol trooper while driving on U.S. Route 30 in Madison Township at 1:24 a.m. June 2, 2016. The trooper smelled marijuana and a search of her 2008 Buick Enclave turned up five pounds of marijuana wrapped in five baggies hidden in compartments in the rear quarter panel. Approximately $135,037 in cash was also found in the vehicle and believed to be the result of drug activity.

Bailey told the trooper she was heading home from Wheeling, W.Va., and admitted in her presentence report to selling drugs to make a living. Jones noted that she also had prior criminal record, including at least one other felony conviction.

“The seriousness of bringing drugs into Columbiana County cannot be underestimated,” Jones said.

Defense attorney Richard Hura said Bailey had a troubled upbringing that included being molested by her mother’s boyfriend and one of her foster parents. “My client has suffered quite a bit of trauma in her life,” he said.

Since her arrest, Bailey has been a model inmate at the county jail and has been completely honest in her dealings with the court and law enforcement.

“I’m not a bad person. I’ve made bad choices,” Bailey told Judge Pike when it came her turn to address the court.

In letter to Pike read aloud by Hura, Bailey apologized and told the judge “if you give me a chance I’d like to prove I can do better.”

While Pike expressed sympathy for Bailey’s chaotic home life, he said the drugs she was carrying had the potential to have a negative impact on others, “and for that a price has to be paid.”

He then sentenced her to 30 months in prison, with mandatory credit for 325 days spent in the county jail. Pike also agreed to order the forfeiture of the Enclave and $135,037 in cash, with the assets split between the prosecutor’s office and highway patrol.

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