A DC Superior Court judge sentenced a defendant to nine months of unsupervised probation on June 29.
Tiesha McDonald pleaded guilty to simple possession of cocaine. As part of a plea agreement with the prosecution, her initial charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle was dropped.
On March 11, two Metropolitan Police Department officers stopped McDonald, 31, for driving a stolen vehicle. Officers found a bag of cocaine in her possession.
McDonald said she had permission to drive the care, but the owner did not pick up the phone when the MPD attempted to verify.
McDonald said she knew she was holding an illegal street drug, but did not know it was cocaine. “I’m not a bad person. I’m not a criminal,” she said.
“She’s not a drug user,” her defense attorney, Ferguson Evans, told the judge. “She was holding them for someone else.”
Judge John Campbell ordered her to pay $50 to the Victims of Violent Crimes Act fund.
McDonald’s charge will be dismissed if she successfully completes her probation.
