Woman gets 20 years for drug smuggling

A 60-year-old woman was sentenced on Monday to almost 20 years in prison for her role in smuggling more than $1 million worth of meth into the U.S. from Mexico, a press release said.

Reyna Osorio Martinez, of Morelia, Mich., Mexico, was found guilty in September on all counts lodged against her in connection to trafficking more than 50 grams of meth, a statement from U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson said. She was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import and importation into the United State, the press release said.

According to the release, Osorio Martinez was linked to other individuals and vehicles involved in previous drug trafficking offenses. The jury heard agents testify at trial that the street value of the meth she smuggled on at least two occasions was more than $1 million, the release said.

She was arrested when she rode in the passenger seat of a vehicle that Customs and Border Protection agents found contained contraband, the release said. The car was inspected upon entering the United States through the B&M Bridge, the release said.

The 2002 Toyota Camry contained seven bundles that totaled 6.59 kilograms of meth, or 14.5 pounds, which prompted ICE agents to investigate further, according to the release.

Osorio Martinez told investigating agents that her son-in-law had purchased the vehicle in Matamoros the previous day, the release said.

Yet, according to crossing records, she had entered the United States from Mexico in the same Camry three times before dating back to December 2010, the release said. The previous times she entered the country, the records showed, she was with an individual who was arrested in Laredo with 6.72 kilograms of meth, or 14.8 pounds, the release said. The individual was arrested three days before Osorio Martinez was detained in Brownsville, the release said.

U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle, who presided over the trial, sentenced Osorio Martinez to federal prison for 235 months after a Brownsville federal jury deliberated for approximately two hours following a day and a half of trial in September, the release said.

Osorio Martinez, according to the release, remains in custody pending transfer to an U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The case was investigated by ICE with the assistance of CBP and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carrie Wirsing and William Hagen, the release said.