Women accused of selling synthetic marijuana in Iowa City

IOWA CITY - Two transient women are accused of purchasing and reselling synethic marijuana.

According to Iowa City police criminal complaints, just before 7 p.m. on July 17, officers approached a maroon Mercury Sable parked illegally in a lot at 302 S. Gilbert St. Inside the vehicle were 21-year-old Shanice C. Burks and 31-year-old Shantel O. Forrest. Police said both women are homeless.

Police said a wooden box commonly used to store marijuana and marijuana pipes was in plain view on the passenger seat of the vehicle. Officers searched the car and found 12 small, individually packaged plastic bags of synthetic marijuana and two larger bags of synthetic marijuana. Police said the women admitted to purchasing the larger bags of synthetic marijuana and reselling for profit. The women were making about $50 a day on the individual sales, police said.

Both women were arrested and face a charge of controlled substance violation, a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

In addition to the drug charge, Forrest faces two counts of unauthorized use of a credit card, an aggravated misdemeanor. Police said on July 29, Forrest used a stolen credit card to buy drinks, cigarettes and other items from a convenience store and rent movies from a Redbox. Each count is punishable by up to two years in prison.