WOMAN BOLTS DRUG TRIAL, FOUND GUILTY

SHAMROCK - A Tulsa, Okla., woman on trial for drug charges in Wheeler
County decided to leave halfway through the proceedings this week.

But leaving didn't prevent her from being found guilty in absentia,
sentenced to 36 years in prison and fined $45,000 for possession of a
controlled substance, said 31st District Attorney Rick Roach. The charge
was a first-degree felony.

Waynetta Roberson, 25, was on trial after being arrested on Jan. 24, 2000,
for possessing 462 grams of cocaine, Roach said. Roberson was stopped on
Interstate 40 west of Shamrock by Department of Public Safety Trooper Joe Hill.

"Trooper Hill became suspicious of the circumstances," Roach said.

Roberson was driving a rental car, but her name didn't match the name used
to rent the car, Roach said. She was traveling with a 3-month-old child who
was unrelated to her.

"She (Roberson) was very nervous," Roach said.

Roberson consented to a search of the vehicle, and Hill found an air filter
in the trunk, Roach said. Finding the filter led Hill to check the air
cleaner housing where he discovered the cocaine, Roach said.

After Roberson's arrest, Child Protective Services workers picked up the
child, who later was returned to family members, Wheeler County Sheriff
Jimmy Adams said.

Her trial started Monday, and Roberson was found guilty and sentenced on
Wednesday, Adams said.

"The Wheeler County jury was rightfully upset about the situation," Roach
said of the sentence.

But Roberson wasn't in the courtroom to hear the verdict and sentence.

"She absconded halfway during the trial, after it became apparent it might
not go too well for her," Roach said.

Adams said Roberson was still at large Friday, but information about her
was sent to the National Crime Information Center to alert other law
officers throughout the country.

Wheeler County officers and DPS troopers are searching for her, Adams said,
not to mention the bond company that put up Roberson's $50,000 bond.