Janette Virginia Amaya, 51, pleaded no contest in San Bernardino County Superior Court to a charge of transporting heroin for sale.

Janette Virginia Amaya, 51, pleaded no contest in San Bernardino County Superior Court to a charge of transporting heroin for sale.She also pleaded guilty and no contest to charges of violating probation in cases involving real-estate fraud and drug transportation.Janette Virginia AmayaAmaya previously has been convicted of a special allegation of being a gang member.Outside the courtroom, defense attorney Kory Mathewson said his client could have faced 17 years in prison on the heroin charge and nearly nine more if she had been found guilty of the probation violations.
Amaya wanted to fight the heroin case but felt cornered by the procedures of probation hearings, which have a lower threshold of guilt than jury trials, Mathewson said."She maintains her innocence on the (heroin) case," he said. "She wanted to go to trial."
Amaya collected money from gangs and gave it to the Mexican Mafia, said Eric Bremner, an investigator with the San Bernardino County district attorney's office.
She would call gang enforcers to collect if the gangs failed to pay, Bremner said.
"She has also been known to recruit females to run guns and drugs and do other business for the Mexican Mafia," he said. "She is a compatriot of Sal Hernandez."
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration documents identify Salvador Orozco "Sal" Hernandez, 43, of Bloomington, as a Mexican Mafia kingpin in the San Bernardino area.
Records state that Hernandez would collect taxes from gangs and allow them to deal drugs.Hernandez was sentenced Aug. 29 to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in a murder-for-hire plot and admitting gang membership.Amaya's sentencing report lists 10 offenses, most of them drug related and occurring in San Bernardino County.
The report states that she has 29 aliases, nine birth dates and six Social Security numbers.The new heroin case stems from an arrest on June 12, court records show.