![]() ![]() She said they didn’t search the rest of the house, besides finding a small amount of meth on the nightstand given to her by the friend who dropped off the box as a way of thanking her.Īs Sandoval stood in her home in handcuffs, she realized what was happening, but she didn’t know why. The box she agreed to store was the one the deputies went directly to when they raided Sandoval’s home. That’s because less than 24 hours before deputies raided her home, Sandoval had agreed to help a friend temporarily store some items because he was kicked out of his house. She believed she was set up and was certain about who was responsible. I just kept on saying that I had no idea.” “I just remember thinking, oh my God, oh my God. “I get a sick feeling in my stomach thinking about it because I had that feeling like, ‘Oh my God, I’m all alone.’ You know, what’s happening here?” Sandoval said. Drugs, she said, she’d never seen before. Sandoval was surprised when those deputies pulled out a large bag of meth from that box in her home. “It would give me a reason to get out of bed, go to work.” “It was a coping mechanism there for a while when I was going through a bout of depression,” Sandoval said. She found it hard to turn away once the drugs took hold of her life. Sandoval said she turned to drugs to self-medicate when she hit a difficult time in her life. I wasn’t selling any drugs,” Sandoval said. I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I wasn’t seeking out trouble or anything. “You know, I’d be with other people that were getting in trouble and I’d be swept up in it, too. But those were all minor charges compared to the trouble she was now facing. She had previous arrests for possession and other drug-related crimes dating back to 2001. It wasn’t the first time Sandoval had been busted for drugs. When the deputies were done searching her home, Sandoval was facing felony drug trafficking charges - possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine. Inside that box, deputies found a large bag containing more than two pounds of methamphetamine. “And they go, ‘OK, it’s right here, it’s right here.’ And then they pick me up and put cuffs on me and sit me on the couch,” Sandoval said. To Sandoval, it appeared the deputies knew what they were looking for and where to find it in her home. As Sandoval lay on the floor, she watched the deputies go directly to a backroom for a box sitting on a shelf. ![]() The deputies were executing a search warrant that alleged a confidential informant had seen meth in the home within the past 48 hours. I got down immediately because I didn’t want to get shot or anything.” “I just seen them running up on the porch, the rest of them running behind them, and they hit the side of the door. I mean, at the very same time,” Sandoval recalled. “I just opened the front door and then there they were. Sandoval said she was walking out her front door to grab something from her truck when she was met by several deputies with their guns drawn. It was the day deputies with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit raided her East Side home. Octois the day Rubee Sandoval’s world was turned upside down. in “‘A Necessary Evil’: The Cost of Confidential Informants,” airing on KSAT 12 and. The KSAT 12 Defenders uncover this case in a one-hour special report on Tuesday, Feb. Once he fulfilled the contract requirements, his cases were dismissed.īut three years later, it was discovered the informant had planted evidence in cases that led to the wrongful convictions of three suspects and a lengthy legal battle for a fourth person he framed. When he agreed, he was put on contract with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office. Ī San Antonio man was arrested on drug charges in July 2017 and offered a deal: Become a confidential informant, work with local police to produce more drug cases against other suspects and his cases would be dismissed. The one-hour special report airs on KSAT 12 on Feb. This story is part of a KSAT 12 Defenders investigation into the use of confidential informants by law enforcement.
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