A Prescott Valley woman faces up to two years in prison for her failed 2021 human smuggling effort in Cochise County after she racked up a new felony conviction while on probation.
Alejandra Carina Navarro is in the Yavapai County jail serving a 60-day sentence handed down in May for a recent DUI arrest. But before she can finish that term, Navarro will be transported to the Cochise County jail in Bisbee for hearing next week that could see her sent to prison in the old smuggling case.
Navarro, 23, was arrested in November 2021 near the U.S. / Mexico border after she fled from an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper and lost control of her vehicle. The vehicle, with several undocumented immigrants inside, struck a utility pole before rolling over.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured.
As part of a negotiated plea deal, Navarro pleaded guilty to criminal damage and felony endangerment, with five other felonies dismissed. She was sentenced in January 2022 to three years of supervised probation, which Navarro has been allowed to serve in Yavapai County where she lives.
Court records show Navarro appeared to be doing well on probation until April 6 of this year. That is when she was arrested in Yavapai County on suspicion of DUI, as well as resisting arrest and aggravated assault of a police officer.
A condition of probation is to remain law-abiding. The April arrest prompted Cochise County Deputy County Attorney Ruth Faulkner to file a petition seeking to revoke Navarro’s probation in the smuggling case. If probation is revoked, Navarro faces up to two years in state prison.
Meanwhile, Navarro agreed to plead guilty in Yavapai County to felony resisting arrest and misdemeanor DUI. She was sentenced in May to 60 days in jail followed by five years of probation.
Chandler-based defense attorney Tony Gonzales recently asked a Cochise County judge to allow his client to appear on her own accord in Bisbee once she finishes the Yavapai County jail sentence.
The judge rejected Gonzales’ request, instead issuing a Writ of Habeas Corpus which requires the two sheriff’s departments to make arrangements for Navarro to be transported from Camp Verde to Bisbee for her June 21 probation revocation hearing.