Arizona mom fights Mexico drug charges

PHOENIX -- An Arizona mother of seven accused of trying to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. had a court hearing Wednesday where her lawyer pushed for her release from a Mexico prison, saying she was set up.

In an interview after the hearing, lawyer Jose Francisco Benitez Paz expressed optimism he had proven the charges against Yanira Maldonado were baseless and that the 42-year-old could be released by Friday.

Maldonado's arrest has prompted outrage in the U.S. among politicians and family members, who say she was framed when her bus was stopped at a military checkpoint last week and authorities found nearly 12 pounds of marijuana under her seat.

The case has been a fixture on TV networks with its nightmare scenario of a mother being caught up in a drug case and sent to prison in a judicial system that has struggled with corruption.

Yanira Maldonado and her husband, Gary, said they were returning from her aunt's funeral at the time of the arrest. Gary Maldonado said authorities originally demanded $5,000 for her release, but the bribe fell through. The husband was released after initially being suspected of smuggling.

In court Wednesday, Yanira Maldonado's lawyer argued that soldiers had presented inconsistent testimony about two packages of marijuana that they had recovered, with some saying both were found under his client's seat and others saying they were found under two separate seats.

Mexican officials also provided local media with photos they said were of the packages Maldonado is accused of smuggling. Each was about 5 inches high and 20 inches wide, about the width of a bus seat. The marijuana was packed into plastic bags and wrapped in tan packing tape.

Officials in Sonora state said they were attached to the underside of one or more seats, but they haven't specified how.

Benitez described the packets of drugs as attached to the seat bottoms with metal hooks, a task that would have been impossible for a passenger boarding normally as Yanira Maldonado did.