LIMA — A Piqua woman will be sentenced next month to a jointly recommended two-year prison sentence for being found in possession of synthetic “designer” drugs in following a traffic stop in 2021. Alexis Foy entered into a plea deal with prosecutors Dec. 15, negating the need for a scheduled hearing on a motion filed by her attorney to rule most of the evidence in the case as inadmissible.

Foy, 27, of Piqua, was indicted by a grand jury in March on a single second-degree felony count of aggravated possession of drugs. The indictment alleges that on or about Aug. 18, 2021, Foy was in possession of the Schedule I drug MDMB-43n-PINACA — a synthetic cannabinoid also known as a “designer drug” — in an amount more than five times the bulk limit.

According to a motion filed by the Allen County Public Defenders Office in November, the charges against Foy stemmed from a traffic stop initiated by a deputy with the Allen County Sheriff’s Office on a vehicle in which Foy was a passenger. The seizure of the drugs in question, according to Public Defender Kenneth Sturgill’s motion to suppress, was done without a warrant and without reasonable suspicion, amounting to a violation of Foy’s rights under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The traffic stop was initiated, Sturgill said in his motion, for the driver’s failure to signal a turn 100 feet prior to an intersection. The attorney said cruiser camera footage shows the driver did indeed signal his intent to turn and therefore the deputy had no reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle. During the subsequent search of Foy’s person bags of illicit drugs were found inside the defendant’s swimsuit top when the female deputy placed her hands inside the garment, Sturgill stated, adding that while Foy consented to a search of her pockets, “a swimsuit top covering female breasts is not only an erogenous zone that is very private to an individual, but it is certainly not a pocket.”

Sturgill said evidence discovered via that search should be suppressed from evidence. The suppression hearing proved moot when Foy agreed to a deal with prosecutors on Dec. 15. Assistant Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Everhart said the deal called for Foy to plead guilty to a reduced count of aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony that stated she possessed less than five times the bulk amount of the synthetic pot. The deal included the joint stipulation of a recommended two-year prison term.

Judge Jeffrey Reed ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for Feb. 5.

Foy had been out of jail on bond but earlier this month a warrant was issued for her arrest after she tested positive for cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamines. She appeared in court Dec. 15 in jail stripes.