OXNARD : Brother Pleads Not Guilty in Drug Case
A 25-year-old Oxnard man pleaded not guilty on Monday to forcing his 12-year-old brother to sell narcotics, while the arraignment for the defendant’s girlfriend on the same charges was continued.
Municipal Court Judge Herbert Curtis III set an Aug. 18 preliminary hearing for Roberto Guadalupe Avitia. Prosecutors on Monday charged him and co-defendant Maria Raquel Chavez, 21, with three felony counts each.
Chavez’s arraignment was continued because a lawyer had not been appointed to her case before court Monday.
Each defendant was charged with inducing a minor to sell narcotics, possession of narcotics for sale and willful cruelty to a child.
Police say they put the 12-year-old boy to work selling cocaine. The boy was arrested Thursday, along with the two adults, after police raided the family’s home in a crime-ridden south Oxnard neighborhood.
Prosecutors have said that the couple could face up to nine years in prison if convicted.
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