Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts in Houston, Texas

June 1, 2007

MEAT MARKET OWNERS SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR SELLING COCAINE AND MONEY LAUNDERING

[CORPUS CHRISTI, TX] – The owners of the Country Meat Market have been sentenced for conspiring to distribute cocaine and money laundering, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

Alfredo Garcia, 46, and Rosalinda Perez, 49, are the owners of the Country Meat Market, 2330 Airline Drive, in Corpus Christi. Today, Rosalinda Perez appeared before Chief U. S. District Judge Hayden Head and was sentenced to 57 months imprisonment for laundering more than $120,000 generated from Garcia’s drug dealing. Garcia was sentenced today to 150 months imprisonment for conspiring to distribute more than 50 kilograms of cocaine. Garcia and Perez were also ordered to serve five and three year terms of supervised release, respectively, following the completion of their prison terms. Perez was assessed a $5,000 fine.

At his re-arraignment hearing held on February 15, 2007, Garcia admitted he had distributed cocaine from his store and residence for several months beginning in April 2006 until his arrest in December. At her re-arraignment hearing on February 26, 2007, Perez admitted to laundering the drug proceeds generated from the illegal drug sales by depositing them into her personal credit union account to conceal the true source of the funds.

The investigation which ultimately lead to the filing of criminal charges against Garcia and Perez began after law enforcement authorities in New York notified DEA agents in Corpus Christi in September 2005 that a vehicle registered to Alfredo Garcia had been found to contain kilogram quantities of cocaine. Through undercover work, DEA agents observed Garcia make sales of cocaine from the Country Meat Market and his residence in September 2006. An examination of bank records by IRS agents proved that Perez used her credit union account to deposit the thousands of dollars generated from Garcia’s cocaine sales. A search of the couple’s residence, located on Songbird Street in Corpus Christi, resulted in the discovery and seizure of four firearms, two with silencers, $11,000 in cash, and three grams of cocaine.

Garcia and Perez have both been in federal custody without bond since their respective convictions in February. Each will remain in federal custody to serve their sentences.

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