PITTSBURGH Woman sentenced for drug trafficking

Natalie Garbutt had one prior drug-trafficking conviction and is a fugitive on similar charges in Rhode Island.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
PITTSBURGH -- A Sharon woman will spend the next 12 years and seven months in federal prison on her conviction of one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.
Natalie Garbutt, 35, of Spruce Avenue, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh by Judge Maurice B. Cohill.
Garbutt was found guilty in September by a jury of four men and eight women.
Garbutt, who has a prior felony drug-trafficking conviction from New York, has been a fugitive since 1992 on other drug-trafficking charges in Rhode Island, said Troy Rivetti, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case.
House raided: She was arrested in a drug raid on her home Aug. 31, 2000, by agents of the Mercer County Drug Task Force.
Police said her home was a major drug distribution point and she had about 2.4 ounces of crack cocaine in her possession at the time of her arrest. Agents said they saw Garbutt throwing crack cocaine out of a second-floor bedroom window as they arrived. They found her hiding in a bedroom closet.
In addition to the drugs, agents found two digital scales, other drug paraphernalia and $1,067 in cash.
The task force and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office had been investigating suspected drug trafficking at Garbutt's home for months. The FBI and the Mercer County Sheriff's Department aided in the investigation.
Before announcing her sentence, Judge Cohill said the law is tough, but it is rightfully tough, noting that Garbutt has a prior drug-trafficking conviction.
Garbutt had faced a minimum sentence of 10 years under federal sentencing guidelines.