Lawyer in Mexico Argues for American Woman's Release on Drug-Smuggling Charges Associated Press
go to original May 30, 2013

Jailed Mom in Mexico: 'I Have Nothing to Hide' (AssociatedPress)

An Arizona mother locked up in a Mexico prison on a drug-smuggling charge is depressed and upset about the situation, but hopeful a judge will throw out the case after realizing there is no basis to the charges, her lawyer said.

Jose Francisco Benitez Paz spoke to The Associated Press about 42-year-old Yanira Maldonado, who was arrested by the Mexican military after they found nearly 12 pounds of pot under her bus seat last week. Benitez attended a court hearing Wednesday where he told a judge that she should be released from prison.

He noted that it was a fairly sophisticated smuggling effort that included packets of drugs attached to the seat bottoms with metal hooks — a task that would have been impossible for a passenger like Maldonado.

"It was very well prepared," he said. "It wasn't something quick. It was very well done."

Maldonado's arrest has prompted outrage in the U.S. among politicians and her family members. The case has been a fixture on TV networks with its nightmare scenario of a mother being caught up in a drug case and sent to prison in a judicial system that has long struggled with corruption.

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