Stay-at-home mom Googled herself and found out she was wrongly indicted on drug charges in another state

A mom-of-four received a shock when she discovered she had been wrongly indicted for drug offenses in 2023 and was facing a 35-year jail term.

Gabriela Olds,42, was scrolling the internet in 2024, searching for jobs, when her friend had suggested she Google her name to see what prospective employers could find out about her online.

Instead of links to her social media profiles, she stumbled upon a video of a press conference from 2023, where her name and driver's license were displayed by Colorado’s Adams County district attorney Brian Mason, along with over 20 defendants accused of co-conspiring with a Mexican drug cartel to distribute fentanyl, reports KHOU 11.

“I felt like I was out of my body looking in. I've never been in trouble with the law before. I've never gotten a speeding ticket.

“I was just in complete shock,” she told the outlet.

The mom was listed as one of nine criminal defendants indicted by a grand jury for drug offenses, and the active warrant for her arrest had her down for a $50,000 cash-only bond, reports WSAZ.

Olds is now demanding accountability. Her lawyer says investigators linked her old telephone number to one of the real suspects in the case, despite Olds’s not having used the number for over a decade before the indictment.

The mom also relocated to Houston, Texas, with her family in 2021, despite the indictment suggesting she’d been involved with the illegal drug operation after she’d left Colorado.

Public records seen by The Independent confirmed her relocation from Colorado to Montgomery County, Texas.

Olds told KHOU11 that she feared for her life and was afraid to step outside in case she was pulled over and arrested by authorities.

Her lawyer, Ashley White, alleges that authorities “cut corners” in the investigation at the expense of her identity, which they plastered across the media, resulting in her name and photo being tainted online.

White also believes that the North Metro Task Force ran surveillance on a woman using the number when they mistook her for Olds.

“They’re supposed to be thorough. They’re supposed to be accurate. We, as the public, are supposed to be able to rely on them and trust their investigations and trust the system. In this case, that didn’t happen,” White said.

Her lawyer forwarded a portfolio of bank statements and debit card transactions to plead her client’s innocence, and prove that she was living in Texas, at the time she was alleged to have been dealing fentanyl.

The charges have since been dropped against the innocent mom, but her lawyer has insisted that her client’s liberty was infringed upon, leaving long-lasting damage.

She claims she never received a formal apology from the prosecutors after spending thousands of dollars to get her life back.

Old’s was confirmed as no longer having a criminal record by the Adams County district attorney’s office, but they refused to comment on the issue to WSAZ.

Her lawyer told the outlet that several cases for the defendants prosecuted alongside Olds remain active in Adams County District Court, and some arrest warrants are still active.

The Independent contacted the North Metro Task Force and the U.S. Department of Justice for comment.