Border agents arrest Dalton woman charged in meth conspiracy

Published 12:27 pm Monday, July 9, 2007

CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Authorities say border agents in Texas arrested a pregnant Dalton fugitive charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in Tennessee.

Sheriff’s department spokesman Bob Gault said U.S. Customs agents notified officials in Bradley County, Tennessee that 25-year-old Patricia Laney of Dalton was arrested within the last few days while attempting to enter the United States from Mexico under an assumed name.

Laney was being sought on federal warrants since she was indicted in March with Brandon Kyle Freeman and Dennis Gordon Arp.

Court records show Freeman and Arp are in custody awaiting a trial that has been delayed to Aug. 20. Federal prosecutors requested the delay to avoid separate trials.

Gault said Laney was arrested at a border crossing in Brownsville, Texas. He said a Bradley County detective learned that Laney lived in Mexico for the past seven months under an assumed name. Gault said the name was “red-flagged” in the computer system used by border crossing agents and when Laney attempted to re-enter the U.S., customs agents were aware of the charges.

Gault said Laney, who is six months pregnant, was being processed in Brownsville before the U.S. Marshals Service returned her to Tennessee. Laney is charged with conspiring to distribute at least 500 grams of meth, beginning about July 2006, and with possessing at least 50 grams on or about March 6.