CHRISTIANSBURG — Kayla Lynn Raines on Thursday pleaded guilty to drug distribution and other charges, winding up a case that included authorities’ tracking 70 pounds of marijuana from Northern Virginia to Montgomery County.
Raines, 29, of Christiansburg, was the last of four people arrested in the case to resolve her charges. In Montgomery County Circuit Court, Raines pleaded guilty to possessing more than five pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute it, and with contributing to the delinquency of a minor – the latter charge tied to the presence of her 18-year-old son during the marijuana’s delivery.
Other charges were dropped in a plea agreement and Judge Mike Fleenor imposed the agreement’s recommended sentence of a total of 10 years behind bars, with the entire sentence suspended. Raines is to be supervised by the probation office for five years, Fleenor said, and must complete parenting classes. She is barred from using marijuana or any THC-containing substance, can have no abusive contact with her son, and must forfeit a vehicle that investigators said was involved in the drug transactions, the judge added.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Rachel Shrader said Thursday that Raines was the girlfriend of Tomas Alenayehu Keno, 31, of Radford, who was selling marijuana that he obtained from Northern Virginia. A search of Raines’ phone found messages that showed she was helping arrange sales, but Keno was the principal dealer, Shrader said.
Defense attorney Rob Dean of Roanoke said that he did not object to Shrader’s summary of the prosecution case.
According to Shrader’s summary, and to prosecution statements at an earlier hearing, Raines and Keno were arrested April 14, 2021, along with Samson Desalegne Alemu, then 31, of Springfield, and Natnael Kifle Yilma, then 20, of Herndon.
Investigators had been watching Keno’s drug sales and Christiansburg police moved in after Alemu delivered marijuana to him. Officers found 66 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle Alemu drove, then parked in the townhouse’s garage, and another four pounds in the townhouse. They also found $31,000 in Raines’ dresser, though she said that she did not know how it got there. Amid the money was $200 that police identified as bills used in a controlled drug buy from Keno.
Alemu was convicted this year of possessing more than five pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute it and was sentenced to serve a year in prison. Yilma was found guilty of improperly carrying a concealed weapon and was sentenced to serve 40 days behind bars.
Keno was convicted of possessing more than five pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute it and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to serve nine months.
