Woman pleads innocent to Lynn drug trafficking charges

SALEM – A Salem woman facing 15 years in state prison after being caught earlier this year in Lynn with OxyCodone with an estimated street value of about $60,000 remains free on $10,000 bail after pleading innocent.Chrystalina Cruz, 22, of 205 Highland Ave., Salem, appeared Wednesday for her arraignment in Salem Superior Court, pleading innocent to a charge of trafficking over 200 grams of opium before Judge Howard J. Whitehead.At the joint recommendation of Assistant District Attorney James P. Gubitose and defense lawyer Alice Jayne, the judge set the same bail amount as previously set in Lynn District Court.As part of the bail conditions, Cruz was ordered to remain on a bracelet monitor with house arrest, only to leave her home to pursue a job or work, attorney visits, court appearances or medical appointments.In January a postal inspector identified a suspicious package addressed to a party in Lynn and contacted investigators.Inside the package was a cotton candy machine and, inside it, authorities found approximately 2,000 OxyCodone tablets, each 30 milligrams, having a street value of about $60,000.On Jan. 21, investigators delivered the package to the address of a woman who police learned was apparently manipulated into accepting the package for Cruz.After the package was delivered and the unwitting woman alerted to its contents, she contacted Cruz and told her to come get the package.Cruz, along with her alleged co-conspirator, Roger Jones, 22, of Manchester, N.H., arrived at the woman’s home to retrieve the package. As they were accepting the package, police moved in and arrested the couple.Cruz will next be in court on June 22 for a pretrial hearing at which time Jones is expected to be arraigned.