FORT WAYNE – A Mentone woman has pleaded guilty in federal court to her role in a marijuana trafficking ring that was dissolved earlier this year.
Whitney Sparkman, 20, admitted in U.S. District Court in Fort Wayne Monday to a single charge of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. The deal says Sparkman played a role with less than 50 grams of marijuana.
Sparkman, 23-year-old Jonathan Aramburo of Warsaw and 20-year-old Ryan Lasuer of Winona Lake, as well as Fort Wayne residents Christine Hagan, 30, and 21-year-old Natalie Catalan were all federally indicted on accusations of conspiring to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana between January 2010 and February 2011 following an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, federal court documents show.
That investigation was launched after Aramburo was pulled over in March in Whitley County in a moving van, reportedly moving from Fort Wayne to Warsaw. Inside the van, police found a loaded gun and six six-pound bags of marijuana, as well as a drug ledger that gave agents insight into the ring, the indictments said.
