WILLMAR -- Rosa Chavez Barco, 49, of Willmar, pleaded guilty Wednesday to an amended charge of aiding and abetting a third-degree controlled substance crime.
As part of a plea agreement entered in Kandiyohi County District Court, the charge was reduced from a first-degree drug sale charge. Two additional first-degree felony drug sale charges will be dismissed. Barco is seeking a stay of execution on prison time in the case.
Barco and Guillermo Lopez Sr., 42, also of Willmar, were charged in the case after CEE-VI Drug Task Force agents searched their home on Jan. 11 and found cocaine and task force money used in a drug purchase.
The search revealed plastic bags of cocaine stashed in the bathroom vanity and in the kitchen in a case for eyeglasses and in a wine rack. Two digital scales, marijuana and $1 and $5 bills containing white substances were also found. The main stash of cocaine, 17.8 grams, was found in the bathroom vanity. Agents also located $1,000, in $50 and $100 bills, under a stack of towels. Agents later determined that $750 of the money was used earlier in a cocaine buy at the home.
Lopez was sentenced in May to 57 months in prison and a $1,000 fine on a second-degree controlled substance charge for selling cocaine. In his plea agreement, the charge was reduced from a first-degree felony. Two additional felony charges were dismissed.
