A 47-year-old South Texan has been ordered to prison after admitting to trafficking cocaine from Hidalgo County to other states across the country, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Idalia Guzman pleaded guilty Feb. 6, 2019.
Today, Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey imposed a 96-month sentence to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard additional testimony from the prison ministries representative and learned that Guzman had received a theology degree while awaiting sentencing.
The narcotics investigation began in 2017 which led to the discovery that a group was planning to smuggle an undetermined amount of cocaine from Hidalgo County past the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint.
Authorities stopped a vehicle Guzman was driving in Premont. Her husband Victor Del Toro, Pharr, was the passenger. Law enforcement found approximately a half kilogram of cocaine concealed in the vehicle.
Further investigation revealed the Texas Chicano Brotherhood was responsible for smuggling 10 similar size loads of cocaine to San Diego, Texas, and the states of Michigan and Florida.
At the time of her plea, Guzman admitted her involvement and acknowledged she had transported over 10 times in the same manner.
She has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Del Toro was sentenced in 2019 to 120 months incarceration.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation along with the Texas Department of Public Safety; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; District Attorney Offices in Starr County and Hidalgo Counties and Texas Office of the Attorney General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patti Hubert Booth and David Paxton prosecuted the case.