Houston woman accused of being fake lawyer

Time for the confusing news lead of the day:

A Texas woman wanted in Florida on marijuana charges was jailed in Alabama after claiming to be an attorney for a man arrested on drug charges, part of what authorities said was a pattern of targeting Hispanic drug defendants and charging high fees.

Bear with us while we try to sort this one out. The woman, 50-year-old Carmen Saldana Meyer, was charged with practicing law without a license and is expected to be extradited to Florida, where she's accused of conspiring to traffic more than a thousand pounds of marijuana. She's one hard-working fake lawyer!

The arrest came after the family of Gopar Garcia, an alleged drug ring leader who was arrested in February on meth charges, hired Meyer to represent Garcia. Police became suspicious of Meyer's qualifications when they met with Meyer on May 17 to discuss the charges:

District Attorney Jimmie Harp said the woman started out as an advocate for Garcia but began making "grandiose" statements, including claims that she could help agents intercept a shipment of methamphetamine and was acting as a go-between in a drug deal.

"The story started to not add up pretty quickly," Harp said.

Officers checked things out and discovered Meyer was, indeed, not an attorney, but that she was wanted in Florida. Turns out she had posed as an attorney in several states, usually promising Hispanics who had been arrested on drug charges that she would help them get a reduced sentence. "She has made a lot of money doing this," Harp said.

Meyer, who owns homes in Houston and Atlanta, remained in jail today. Her bond is set at $1 million.