X-Games cocaine ‘mule’ cops plea
The Aspen Times
A 27-year-old Boulder woman pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to bring 21 individual baggies of cocaine into the Winter X-Games in January.
Katherine Kronen pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation. She will have to remain clear of drugs and alcohol and perform 30 hours of community service, according to District Judge Chris Seldin’s sentence.
However, if Kronen stays out of trouble for the next two years, the felony count will be wiped from her record, according to a plea deal.
Kronen told Seldin that she transported the baggies – each weighing a gram and a half – into the X-Games at the behest of “someone else.” She was caught with the drugs trying to go through event security.
Prosecutor Andrea Bryan said Kronen was under the influence at the time, but was cooperative with police “and provided very valuable information” about the person who “was more culpable in this transaction.”
Kronen’s lawyer, Richard Cummins, said his client was “used and duped” into carrying the drugs into the X-Games by a friend she’d only known a short time.
“She’s upset that she’d been duped into eventually being a mule for this fellow,” Cummins said.
