Trafficking Suspect Allegedly Beats Dog on Way to Court Date

BOSTON, Nov. 16, 2012—A Nevada woman missed her arraignment on drug trafficking charges yesterday because she was busy being arrested for allegedly beating her tiny dog, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

ANA PRADO (D.O.B. 3/12/86) of Henderson, Nevada, was arraigned in Superior Court this morning on an indictment handed down on Oct. 15 charging her with trafficking in oxycodone over 200 grams. The indictment moves her case from East Boston District Court, where she had previously been charged, to Suffolk Superior Court, where it will be adjudicated. Prado had been expected in court yesterday on that charge but missed it because MBTA Transit Police arrested her on an animal cruelty charge at Boston’s South Station.

Assistant District Attorney Mary Szulborski today requested Prado be held on $250,000 bail based on the seriousness of the charges, her apparent lack of ties to the Commonwealth, and her most recent arrest while out on the $20,000 bail imposed at her September arraignment in East Boston. Clerk Magistrate Gary D. Wilson did not increase the existing $20,000 bail but did order Prado to wear a GPS monitoring device and not to leave the state without the court’s permission.

Prado was initially scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment yesterday, but she failed to show up in Superior Court until late afternoon due to her arrest and Boston Municipal Court arraignment. In that case, which alleges the abuse of a Yorkshire terrier named Dolce, Assistant District Attorney Elle Rackemann requested $5,000 bail and that Prado’s bail in the trafficking case be revoked. Judge Annette Forde instead released Prado on personal recognizance but granted a prosecution request that the dog be surrendered to the Massachusetts Humane Society.

According to prosecutors, Prado was first arrested on Sept. 14 after an employee at the Logan Airport Hyatt Harborside found two latex gloves filled with pills inside a nightstand drawer in a room from which Prado had just checked out. State Police were informed and arrested Prado when she returned in an attempt to retrieve the drugs, which weighed 501 grams and tested positive for oxycodone, prosecutors said.

During booking, Prado informed state police that she had left her dog alone in a room at the Back Bay Hilton. The dog was picked up by State Police with Prado’s written consent.

Upon her return to Boston yesterday, Prado was witnessed abusing her dog inside a South Station restroom. A witness reported to MBTA Transit Police that Prado struck the small dog three times and lifted it into the air by its leash causing it to hang by its neck. An MBTA employee later told police she saw Prado kick the dog, prosecutors said.

Prado is represented by Joseph Keegan. She will return to Suffolk Superior Court on Dec. 10 and to Boston Municipal Court on Jan. 18.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.