A 29-year-old Brownsville woman has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a cocaine distribution charge.
Crystal Lee Alvear appeared Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., who sentenced her to 36 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.
Alvear pleaded guilty on Oct. 10, 2020, to one count of possession with intent to distribute 33 pounds of cocaine.
Her sentencing comes nearly a year after her sister, Rachel Ann Alvear, 33, was sentenced to over five years in federal prison for the same crime.
According to a federal criminal complaint, the sisters arrived at the Sarita checkpoint Nov. 15, 2019, in a brown 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe. There were five people in the vehicle, and all were determined to be United States citizens.
As the agent conducted immigration inspections, a Border Patrol canine alerted agents to the vehicle, providing probable cause to search it, the federal criminal complaint reads. The driver of the SUV was told to park her car in the designated secondary inspection to perform a systematic search of the vehicle.
“During the search, agents discovered fourteen (14) bundles that contained a white, powdery substance which tested positive for the characteristics of cocaine,” the federal criminal complaint stated.
The sisters gave conflicting statements about their travel plans, according to the federal criminal complaint. The agents searched prior travel plans of the sisters and found that they had been traveling to San Antonio or San Marcos and traveling back to Brownsville within hours “consistent with narcotics smuggling.”
Crystal Lee Alvear admitted she picked up the Tahoe at a location that authorities previously identified as a known narcotics stash house linked to a prior seizure where the 33 pounds of cocaine were seized, the federal criminal complaint reads.
Crystal Lee Alvear remains out on bond and was ordered to self-surrender to U.S. Marshals in Brownsville on July 29, to begin her sentence.
Rachel Alvear pleaded guilty on March 3, 2021, to one count of possession with intent to distribute 33 pounds of cocaine. She was sentenced on Aug. 8, 2021, to 70 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. She is jailed at the Tallahassee FCI in Tallahassee, Florida. Her projected release date is Nov. 3, 2024.
