TORRINGTON – Alisha Pitford, of LaGrange, pleaded guilty to her third misdemeanor charge of methamphetamine possession. 

Pitford entered a guilty plea on Nov. 19 to the misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with 27 days suspended and she was given credit for three days served. Pitford will also be responsible for $635 in court fines and fees and she will be on unsupervised probation for one year. 

The charges were filed by Goshen County Sheriff’s Deputy Herbert Irons following a traffic stop on Nov. 17, according to the Affidavit of Probable Cause filed by Irons. 

The affidavit states that Irons was on patrol and saw a vehicle with no taillights and initiated a traffic stop. 

According to the affidavit, the driver was Alexander Schanaman, who was driving with a suspended license. Irons then asked the passenger, Pitford, if she had a valid license.

“As Schanaman was getting her wallet from the purse I observed a blue metal pipe which I immediately recognized as one that is commonly used to smoke marijuana,” Irons wrote in the affidavit. 

Irons removed Schanaman and Pitford from the car, then searched the car. 

“As I searched the vehicle I observed a green and white soft sided zipper case in the rear of the vehicle on the passenger floor side.” Irons wrote in the affidavit. “As I unzipped the case, I observed two pipes which I recognized to be commonly used to smoke methamphetamine. As I looked at the pipes further, I observed a white substance coating the inside which I recognized to be consistent with being used smoke methamphetamine. As I looked further into the bag, I observed a blue, translucent jewelry bag. As I looked at the contents of the bag I observed a crystalline substance that I recognized to be methamphetamine.”

After hearing her Miranda Rights, Pitford admitted the case was hers, the affidavit said. Pitford was then transported to the Goshen County Detention Center. 

Irons used a Narcotics Identification Kit to confirm that the substance in the blue bag was methamphetamine.