By Jim Patten
Staff Writer
August 13, 2008 12:02 am HAVERHILL — A confidential informant tipped police off that an employee at Walgreens was selling cocaine from the cosmetics counter at the Main Street store, a prosecutor said yesterday. The informant told police that Luis Ledesma, 26, of Haverhill told him that his girlfriend, Enery Fernandez, 27, of 22 Nichols St., would have a supply of cocaine at the 301 Main St. pharmacy, where she worked, and that customers could make arrangements through him to pick up the cocaine at the store. Ledesma was arrested at his mother's house on Arlington Street on Monday afternoon and Fernandez was arrested the same afternoon inside the store while she was at work. Ledesma's family members said he does not live at the Arlington Street address, but has been living in a rooming house at 248 Broadway in Lawrence. Assistant District Attorney John DePaulo told Judge Patricia Dowling during the arraignment of the couple in Haverhill District Court yesterday that police had made a controlled drug buy using an informant. "When confronted by police after the sale, she (Fernandez) admitted she had some cocaine in her bra and some more in her purse," DePaulo said, calling the operation "a very brazen arrangement." Dowling ordered Ledesma held on $25,000 cash bail, and Fernandez on $5,000 cash bail. DePaulo had asked for $25,000 cash bail on Ledesma, citing his criminal record and the fact he recently served a 15-month jail term for drug distribution. He also asked the court to set $7,500 cash bail for Fernandez, noting that while she has no prior criminal record, she was involved in the sale of drugs and had embarrassed her employers. Michael Baldassare, a court-appointed lawyer for Fernandez, asked for the $500 cash bail she posted after her arrest to continue in effect. He told the court Fernandez had never been in trouble before, and had come to court yesterday after posting bail the night before. "I don't think any additional bail will be necessary. She takes care of her elderly grandmother who has had several strokes," Baldassare said. "She is not a danger to the community and she is not going anywhere." Christian Colwell, a court-appointed lawyer for Ledesma, questioned the strength of the case against his client, noting the arrests were the result of information supplied by a confidential informant. That informant, he said, "will clearly have to come forward," and suggested the informant might have charges pending against him. "When he was arrested, police found nothing on him or in his apartment," Colwell said of Ledesma. The couple were ordered to return to court on Sept. 9 for a pretrial hearing.
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Photos
Luis Ledesma, 26, is charged with distribution of cocaine and was in Haverhill District Court yesterday. Ledesma and his girlfriend, Enery Fernandez, were arrested and charged with selling cocaine from the Walgreens on Main Street, where Fernandez worked. Staff photo
Enery Fernandez, 27, is led away in handcuffs and held on $ 5,000 cash bail after her arraignment in Haverhill District Court yesterday on charges of distribution of cocaine. Fernandez and her boyfriend, Luis Ledesma, were arrested on charges of selling cocaine from the Walgreens on Main Street, where she worked. Staff photo