Woman pleads guilty to drug sales
Published 7:04 am Saturday, November 10, 2018
Karla Monika Gilbertson, also known as Karla Zenaida Garcia, 39, of Austin pleaded guilty to felony third-degree drugs-sale of a narcotic as part of a plea agreement on Thursday in Mower County District Court. The charge was reduced from felony first-degree possession of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine as part of the agreement.
A charge of gross misdemeanor user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm will be dismissed at the sentencing.
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Karla Gilbertson
According to the court complaint, Austin police received a search warrant on March 21 to search a house in the 800 block of Third Avenue Northwest, where Gilbertson was residing with Chanh Daeng Inboua. After the warrant was signed, a narcotics officer spotted Gilbertson in the lobby area of the Mower County Jail. He served her a copy of the warrant and placed her under arrest for previous drug sales. She agreed to speak to him and said there were more than two ounces of methamphetamine at her residence.
The complaint states police found the following in the residence:
• Approximately 68.12 grams of methamphetamine;
• Two .22 caliber rifles;
• Miscellaneous drug paraphernalia;
• Four surveillance cameras; and
• Evidence of manufacturing forged checks.
Inboua was also arrested trying to flee police.
Detectives spoke to Gilbertson, who claimed that “a couple of grams of meth” in her bedroom belonged to her while the rest belonged to Inboua and that she sold drugs to support her habit, according to the complaint.
Gilbertson will be sentenced on March 14.