Woman jumps bail, gets 9 years

A woman who was found sleeping in her van along with methamphetamine by Ramona sheriff’s deputies was sentenced April 28 to nine years and eight months in state prison.

Kellie Ann Parkhurst, 52, of Lakeside, received such a long term from El Cajon Superior Court Judge John Thompson because she was out on bail for a previous drug case and jumped bail. She was arrested Sept. 28, 2009, in the 700 block of F Street at 9:27 p.m. in Ramona.

Deputies found 13 grams of methamphetamine in her van and discovered she was facing an earlier drug case for which she had posted bond. Parkhurst was able to post $20,000 bond on the Ramona case, but disappeared and did not show up for arraignment.

Parkhurst was arrested Feb. 6 and this time she stayed in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility on $100,000 bail. She pleaded guilty on March 25 and wrote on a court document that she unlawfully possessed methamphetamine for sale while out on bail. The street value of the drug found in the van was estimated between $1,500 to $2,000.

Thompson denied probation and imposed six years for the meth possession case. He added one year and eight months consecutively for the previous drug conviction, and two years consecutively for Parkhurst admitting that she jumped bail twice and failed to show up in court, said Deputy District Attorney Heather Trocha.

The judge gave her credit for serving 124 days in jail and fined her $5,000. She could have been sentenced to a maximum 15-year term, according to court records.