A woman in Hernando County, Florida, was arrested twice in a week for possession of cocaine, both times following traffic stops. During her latest booking, she was accused of attempting to smuggle more of the illegal drug, concealed on her person.
According to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, the first incident took place on Friday, July 24. A deputy observed a traffic violation by an unspecified vehicle and initiated a traffic stop in the Spring Hill area.
Shortly after, a different deputy with his K-9 partner responded to the scene. An open-air sniff of the vehicle was conducted, and the police dog detected a narcotics odor.
As per the HCSO, 36 grams of crack cocaine, 30.1 grams of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia were found inside the vehicle. Additional crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia were allegedly recovered from the driver’s purse.
First Arrest
The vehicle’s passenger was identified as 48-year-old Christine Giraud. She was charged with trafficking in cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Meanwhile, the driver was identified as 59-year-old Deborah Defazio. She was charged with possession of crack cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Both women were transported to the Hernando County Detention Center. This, however, wouldn’t be the last time the HCSO heard from Defazio.
Déjà Vu
Three days later, on Monday, July 27, an HCSO deputy conducted a traffic stop. Similar to the previous incident, the law enforcement agent had observed a traffic violation in Spring Hill.
The same deputy with the same K-9 partner responded to the scene. The police dog detected the odor of narcotics following an open-air sniff of the car.
Inside the car, deputies found paraphernalia containing cocaine residue and a digital scale inside a pouch beneath the front passenger seat. The passenger, Deborah DeFazio, the same woman who was recently jailed for the incident described above, admitted to owning the pouch in question, the HCSO said.
Smuggling
DeFazio was once again transported to the Hernando Detention Center. This time around, her booking was more chaotic than the one before.
According to the sheriff’s office, cocaine was discovered on DeFazio’s person. The undisclosed amount of the illegal drug had been concealed.
As a result, DeFazio was hit with more charges. These are additional charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and introduction of contraband into a detention facility. If convicted of her crack cocaine possession charge and the contraband charge, DeFazio could spend 10 years behind bars.