Former cop free only one day after guilty plea in heroin possession case
PUEBLO — One day after pleading guilty to heroin possession charges in federal court, former short-time Walsenburg police officer Gloria E. Suazo, was arrested by Pueblo authorities on a new allegation of selling crack cocaine. US District Court Judge Raymond Moore accepted Suazo’s guilty plea on Wednesday, Oct. 29 and allowed the suspect to remain free on bond until her sentencing hearing in January so she could care for her two small children. Suazo pleaded guilty to helping her ex-husband Jeromy Suazo possess heroin for distribution. Jeromy Suazo has also pleaded guilty to drug charges. Judge Moore allowed Suazo to remain free on bond saying she was not a flight risk, nor was she a danger to the community. Suazo reportedly had bowed her head during the proceedings and told the court she was sorry for her crime. That contrition didn’t last long however, as Pueblo police arrested her the very next night, Thursday, Oct. 30, for allegedly selling crack cocaine from her vehicle to a woman at the Stagecoach Trailer Park, 1901 Constitution Blvd. On Friday, Oct. 31, Suazo was charged in Pueblo District Court with felony distribution of a controlled substance and misdemeanor child abuse. Pueblo Detective Greg Egan’s affidavit for arrest said the suspect had her children with her in her car when the drug transaction was made. The affidavit said the buyer of the drugs, Lisa Martinez, told police she had brought candy for Suazo’s children because she “usually had her kids with her” when Martinez had bought drugs from her in the past. Martinez told police she had bought crack cocaine from Suazo “about 100 times” over the past four years and she had bought drugs from her just two weeks prior to the Thursday transaction that led to Suazo’s arrest. Assistant United States Attorney Kurt Bohn, last Friday asked the federal court judge to revoke Suazo’s bond and set a hearing for the defendant for allegedly violating bond conditions. Pueblo detectives said based on intelligence from patrol officers who suspected Suazo continued to be active in the drug trade, they began covert surveillance of her last week and had followed her from her home to the trailer park location and witnessed what appeared to be a drug transaction between Suazo and Martinez. When questioned by authorities shortly after the suspicious meeting at the trailer park, Martinez admitted she had purchased two packages of crack cocaine from Suazo. Suazo was taken into custody without incident and police called a friend of hers to pick up her children from the scene of the traffic stop and arrest.
