Lakers ex-girlfriend arrested in Norfolk

NORFOLK

The ex-girlfriend of a Los Angeles Lakers basketball player has been arrested on charges of transporting more than two pounds of cocaine through the region.

Emily L. Peniche made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Wednesday afternoon. A magistrate judge ordered her jailed pending a bond hearing Monday.

Peniche and Lakers forward Josh Powell, who met while Powell played with the cross-town Clippers, have been involved in a much publicized custody dispute over their daughter. Peniche posted a tearful 10-minute plea on YouTube last summer accusing Powell of refusing to return the girl, Patience, then 3.

Peniche was arrested Monday with co-defendant Samuel Q. Moses after Norfolk police received a tip that the two would be transporting a large amount of cocaine from New Jersey to Norfolk that day, according to a criminal affidavit filed in court by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.

After Moses and Peniche crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel about 1:30 p.m. that day, a Norfolk police investigator stopped their car.

A search revealed a kilo of cocaine, or more than 2.2 pounds, wrapped in a girdle and stuffed inside a duffel bag, the affidavit says.

Powell, a former North Carolina State player, was a reserve this season for the NBA champion Lakers, averaging about 9 minutes a game. A call to the Lakers media office was not returned Wednesday.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com