Brewster woman sentenced in jail-drug case

DAVENPORT — A Brewster woman facing the possibility of years in prison was instead sentenced under a joint recommendation after entering a guilty plea Tuesday, Dec. 23, in Lincoln County Superior Court.

Kira Esmerelda Darle Oregon Hernandez, 24, pleaded guilty during a readiness hearing to one count of possession of a controlled substance while in a correctional facility. Superior Court Judge Adam Walser accepted the plea agreement and found Hernandez guilty as charged.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years, though the standard sentencing range is zero to 12 months. Hernandez has an offender score of two.

“It could go up to five years, but if I were to exceed that 12 months, you would have the right to appeal,” Walser told Hernandez before accepting the plea. “I find that there is a factual basis for the plea.”

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Bruce Cox told the court the state was asking Walser to follow the joint recommendation, noting the offense is an unranked felony.

“With her offender score, we saw between zero to 90 days. We thought that was appropriate,” Cox said. He added that Hernandez expressed after her arrest that she struggles with substance abuse.

Public Defender Dave Hearraen urged the court to consider Hernandez’s age and family circumstances.

“Judge, she is 24 years old. She is a single mom to a 7-year-old little girl,” Hearraen said. “It has just been one thing after another, and what she did was start self-medicating.”

Hearraen told the court Hernandez had already spent 33 days in jail and had time to reflect on her actions. Under the agreement, Hernandez will be transferred to Okanogan County, where she will serve an additional 15 days and be able to visit with her daughter during the child’s Christmas break.

“It gave me a lot of time to think,” Hernandez told the court. She said she began using drugs at age 11 and wants to change her life. “I want something better for myself and my kid.”

Walser said the case should serve as a turning point.

“This is the Christmas she is going to remember,” Walser said. “Whether you go to jail again or not, this is the last shot you have to really forgive and forget about this.”

Walser warned Hernandez that continued drug use could permanently damage her relationship with her daughter.

“The more you keep this up, she will grow up and tell her friends about her mother who did drugs and went to jail,” he said. “That would be your daughter. If not for your own health, do it for hers.”

Walser agreed to the joint recommendation, noting the “hard time” would begin 20 days from the hearing.

According to court records, Hernandez was arrested Jan. 3 after Washington State Patrol troopers discovered she had an active warrant while investigating a collision on Interstate 90. She was transferred to the custody of Lincoln County deputies in Harrington that night.

Records show that before transport, Hernandez removed a dime-sized bag of suspected narcotics while in WSP custody. A deputy advised her multiple times that bringing drugs into the jail would result in additional charges, but she denied having anything else on her, documents state.

During the drive to the jail, Hernandez told the deputy she had a “drug problem,” began using heroin after a back injury as a teenager, later switched to fentanyl and had attempted rehabilitation several times. She also told the deputy she hid her drug use from her husband, according to court documents.

Once at the jail, a small black jar with a yellow bee on the lid — commonly used to transport narcotics — fell from Hernandez’s clothing during a search, records show. The container held a white crystal-like substance consistent with powdered fentanyl. A piece of unused foil, suspected drug paraphernalia, was also found in her waistband. Both items were booked into evidence.

Author Bio

Olivia Harnack, Managing Editor

Olivia Harnack is the award-winning managing editor/photographer/videographer/columnist at the Lincoln County Record-Times, with offices in both Davenport and Odessa, Wash. She is a University of Idaho graduate and a U.S. Army National Guardsman.