HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Authorities have made arrests in a joint investigation that led to the arrest of a Glen Allen mother and father accused of selling and distributing marijuana across Central Virginia.
Undercover agents with Henrico County Police and the Caroline County Sheriff's Office have been working the drug distribution case for months at Jason Saunders and Sherlene Fox’s apartment complex near Virginia Center Commons in Glen Allen.
Officials said somehow news of Saunders' arrest at his work spread fast to his girlfriend. Accordingly, sources said Fox came running out of the apartment in her pajamas carrying two duffle bags and an infant strapped into a child carrier.
"She came out of the apartment not knowing we were there -- in a very big rush," Caroline County Sheriff Tony Lippa said.
Agents then followed Fox out of the complex and onto I-295 and then I-95 north. When Fox realized she was being followed, deputies said she began to drive erratically. Officials said she stopped at the Carmel Church exit in Caroline County.
During a search, investigators recovered two large duffle bags stuffed with 15 pounds of marijuana in the car's trunk. Additionally, deputies recovered a 3-month-old girl, whose car carrier had flipped upside down and was wedged between the vehicle's back and front seat.
Investigators think Fox may have been heading to the home of her boyfriend’s brother, Walter Saunders, who was also arrested, in Lake Land'Or community in Caroline County or the home.
All three were charged with distribution of marijuana. Fox was also charged with felony child neglect.
Deputies said Saunders was also arrested in 2004 with an ounce of cocaine and $25,000 in cash. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Over the course of the 10 and a half month investigation, which spanned from the Lake Land 'Or community in Caroline County to Henrico County, agents collected more than 30 pounds of marijuana.
“We are getting off the street approximately 32 pounds of marijuana. Does it make me happy? Happy and proud of that out community works with us," Lippa said.
