Former “American Idol” contestant Antonella Barba was working as a courier for a major drug ring and was trying to deliver nearly 2 pounds of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl when she was arrested in Virginia last year, according to new reports.
Barba, 32, was arrested Oct. 11 in downtown Norfolk and charged in a local court with one count of possession of more than 100 grams of heroin with intent to distribute it.
She had been out on bond while awaiting trial, but was taken back into custody on a federal indictment unsealed Monday that accuses her of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, heroin and fentanyl, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
Barba, who also has a felony marijuana case pending in Kansas, was one of several members of a drug conspiracy that was active in Hampton Roads from at least late 2017 through the fall of 2018, the newspaper reported.
The indictment, large portions of which remain redacted, also names Justin Michael Isaac and Rawl Christopher Stennett, a man whom court documents tie to three Social Security numbers and three dates of birth.
An unnamed cohort used an apartment on Granby Street in September 2017 to stash cocaine, heroin and money, according to the indictment, which also outlines several small drug sales in Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.