Another defendant was charged in the “mobile child backpack” drug case

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Another person has been charged in a case that drew widespread attention because it involved drugs in a 4-year-old child's backpack.

A federal judge on Wednesday allowed Exavieria Deagnes Maxie, 36, to be released from prison pending trial.

The defendant's sister, Echandza Maxie, is also named in the indictment. They are accused of helping Echandza Maxie's husband, Glennie Antonio McGee, run a drug distribution organization in Mobile. The investigation began in March with a raid by the Mobile County Sheriff's Office on a home in the city. The investigators said they found the child there with the drug backpack.

Exavieria Maxie has a criminal record. She pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge in 2017. Separately, this week a judge upheld the decision to keep Echandza Maxie locked up pending trial.

The judge did not rule on a request for bail based on the fact that there is no one to care for Maxie's minor children now that her sister is incarcerated.

“Defendant’s husband, Glennie McGee, is incarcerated and unable to care for him and defendant’s minor children,” her attorney wrote in a court filing. “The defendant is the only person who can act as guardian of the minor child and assist in the medical and mental health care of her eldest daughter.”

The attorney suggested that her client be placed under house arrest except for work and that she agree not to have contact with anyone connected to the case and not to provide tax preparation services.

U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer gave prosecutors until Monday to respond.

McGee, meanwhile, has also asked to be released from custody pending trial. His attorney made the request last month after McGee posted bail in a related state case. But on Wednesday, the attorney withdrew the request, saying in a court filing that he needed more time.

Copyright 2024 WALA. All rights reserved.