WILLMAR -- Ashley Marie Eliason, 21, of Willmar, was sentenced Thursday to a $1,000 fine and five years of probation on a fifth-degree controlled substance crime for receiving more than seven pounds of marijuana in the mail in February.
She was also ordered to serve 30 days in the county jail, with credit for four days already served, and to complete a chemical dependency evaluation. She received a five-year stay of adjudication on the sentence, meaning that if she complies with the court's conditions, the conviction will not appear on her record.
Eliason pleaded guilty May 29 to the charge, which was amended from a fifth-degree charge for sale of marijuana to a possession charge. Two other felony drug charges were dismissed.
Abel Ricardo Mendoza III, 20, of Willmar, was sentenced in May to five years of probation and a $2,000 fine. He was also ordered to serve 98 days in jail, with credit for 98 days already served, and complete a chemical dependency evaluation.
They were charged after CEE-VI Drug Task Force agents received information from the U.S. Postal Inspector that a package containing in excess of three kilograms of marijuana was en route to Eliason's address in Willmar from a Juan Castillo in Edinburg, Texas.
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A search warrant was prepared in anticipation of the controlled delivery of the package. Another woman at the home signed for the package around 10 a.m. Feb. 22. About 20 minutes later, law enforcement officers entered the home and found the couple, the package containing 3.28 kilograms of marijuana and other drugs in a bedroom of the home.
Mendoza was recognized by officers as an associate of the Gangster Disciples.
In an interview, Eliason told officers that she knew Mendoza used and sold marijuana and that she has personally witnessed him on the phone making multiple deals on a daily basis. She said that last fall a package of marijuana came in the mail to her former address. She also said there was cocaine in their bedroom.
