California woman pleads guilty in west Texas to smuggling more than 160 pounds of marijuana in rental car

LUBBOCK, Texas — A California woman pleaded guilty to a federal felony drug offense Monday after she was found driving east on Interstate 20 in west Texas at about five miles per hour on Christmas Day 2013.

This guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Abilene Police Department.

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; a sentencing date will be set after that report is completed. Brashear remains on bond.

According to documents filed in the case, on Dec. 25, 2013, the Abilene (Texas) Police Department received multiple calls regarding a small sport utility vehicle that was on Interstate 20 traveling east at about 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; 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 about 166 pounds of marijuana, which were 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, Dec. 22, 2013; the car was due back to that location four days later.

Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Williams, Northern District of Texas, is prosecuting this case.