Woman sentenced after trying to flush $3,880 down jail toilet

A 26-year-old woman who tried to flush drug money down a cell block toilet is going to federal prison for 10 years for her role in a meth trafficking plot.

Marisela Ramirez had $3,880 in cash on her when she was taken into custody in 2013 but wasn’t successful in her attempts to get rid of it while she was in the U.S. Marshal’s holding cell in the federal courthouse, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said. Authorities seized the bills and charged Ramirez with mutilation of federal reserve notes, depredation to government property and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

She pleaded guilty to the drug distribution charge in October and was sentenced Monday by Chief U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten. The other charges were dismissed as part of her plea deal, according to federal court records.

Ramirez helped arrange for 16 pounds of meth to be trafficked by vehicle from California to Kansas, according to court records. Authorities found the drugs welded into the frame rails and bumper of the car after law enforcement stopped and seized it.

There are three co-defendants in the case, Grissom said. Jorge Rodriguez-Maciel was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Victor Diaz is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on Friday. Manuel Torres Arevalo is awaiting trial.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Woman sentenced after trying to flush $3,880 down jail toilet."