A Tucson woman is holding out hope she will get back the $25,000 cash bail she gave last year to get her son released from the Cochise County jail pending trial on several drug felonies, even though a judge ordered the money be forfeited on Thursday.
Clara Lopez Wilson appeared at the 9 a.m. bail forfeiture hearing at the Cochise County Superior Court in Bisbee. She was ordered there to explain why the $25,000 cash bail she posted should not be forfeited due to her son, Alejandro Parra, failing to appear in the same court on Jan.17 for sentencing in the drug case.
What the parties could not have known at the time was that Parra was attending another hearing at the same time – in a Pima County court after he was arrested a few hours earlier.
The discovery of his arrest was not made until a few hours after the $25,000 was ordered forfeited by Judge Timothy Dickerson.
During the Cochise County hearing, Dickerson asked Lopez via a court-provided Spanish interpreter whether she knew where Parra was and advised that if there was “something you think I should know, this is your chance to tell me.”
Through her sobs, Lopez responded that she had not heard from her son in several weeks and had no idea how to reach him. He may even be in Maricopa County, she noted, adding that Parra, 40, had become “very involved in drugs, bad drugs.”
Wilson also explained she put up $7,000 of her own and $18,000 from others to get Parra out of jail in March 2022 to await trial on eight drug charges, including several Class 2 felonies involving fentanyl and methamphetamine.
The mother pleaded with Dickerson to forfeit only the $7,000 of her money, as it would be devastating to lose the $18,000 she borrowed. But Dickerson explained the financial harm to Wilson “is not a factor” he is allowed to consider under state law.
Although the judge was sympathetic to Lopez’s blight, he noted “it’s really your son’s fault.” He then ordered the entire cash bail to be forfeited.
But on Thursday afternoon, Parra’s court-appointed attorney Andrew Marcy filed a motion for reconsideration of the forfeiture with Dickerson based on Parra’s arrest earlier in the day. A decision by the State will be made in the coming days whether to support or object to the motion, according to Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre.
In the meantime, prosecutor Ray Haight is expected to arrange for Parra to be temporarily transferred to the Cochise County jail so sentencing can finally occur in the 2022 drug case.
Court records show Parra was facing more than 30 years in prison if convicted of eight felony counts. He skipped a settlement conference the next month which had been set to see if a plea deal could be negotiated, but Marcy was eventually able to confer with Parra, who ended up pleading guilty to one count of attempted sale or transportation of fentanyl, a Class 3 felony.
The November plea deal called for a sentencing range of up to 5 years on probation or prison time between 2 and 8.75 years. The deal also required Parra to “fully participate” in an interview with the probation department to assist in preparing a presentence report for the judge.
Parra submitted the required paperwork and twice spoke by phone with a probation officer to schedule his interview but it never took place. As a result, Parra was no longer eligible for probation, Haight advised the court at the time.
An arrest warrant was then issued Jan. 17 when Parra failed to show up for sentencing and the Cochise County Attorney’s Office initiated the process to have the $25,000 forfeited to the State. The failure to appear now means Parra cannot be sentenced to less than 3.5 years, Haight noted.
Parra’s mother implored Dickerson during the forfeiture hearing to take steps when her son is eventually sentenced to address his need for drug treatment or psychiatric care.