Wife of Mendocino defense lawyer busted for pot in Utah

<p>The wife of a Mendocino County public defense attorney who ran for District Attorney two years ago has been arrested in Utah on suspicion of felony marijuana possession with intent to distribute.</p><p>Deborah Keyes Schlosser, 56, was arrested Saturday night with 162 pounds of marijuana in the back of her covered Toyota pickup truck, said Utah State Trooper Chamberlin Neff .</p><p>“It’s a lot of marijuana,” he said.</p><p>Schlosser is married to Bert Schlosser, a long-time public defense attorney employed by the Mendocino County Alternate Public Defender’s Office. He ran unsuccessfully for District Attorney in 2007.</p><p>Deborah Schlosser works for the Redwood Empire School Insurance Group in Sonoma County. She was released from jail after posting bail, but her truck and its contents were confiscated, Neff said.</p><p>If convicted of the second-degree felony charge, Schlosser could face up to 15 years in prison, said Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney and department spokeswoman Alicia Cook.</p><p>She also could end up with probation if she lacks a prior criminal record, Cook said.</p><p>Schlosser was driving her truck on on Interstate 80 about 10 miles outside of Salt Lake City at 8 p.m. when Neff said he saw her truck cross the fog line.</p><p>He searched the vehicle after his drug-sniffing dog indicated there were drugs inside, he said.</p><p>Schlosser told him she was headed to Minnesota to visit her brother, Neff said.</p><p>Neither she nor her husband could be reached for comment Tuesday.</p><p>Cook noted that Utah does not allow marijuana to be used for any purpose, including medical.</p><p>Mendocino County Sheriff’s Lt. Rusty Noe said Bert Schlosser had been contacted several years ago about marijuana growing at his home, but it was determined to be for medical reasons and charges were never filed.</p><p>It has become increasingly common in Mendocino County for prominent residents to be arrested in connection with marijuana cultivation. They include a political activist, fire captain, teacher and a District Attorney’s Office employee.</p><p>Neff said finding marijuana on Northern Californians passing through the state is nothing new.</p><p>“We get it coming through all the time,” he said.</p>