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A 33-year-old Houston woman has been sentenced to a decade in prison for being the logistics coordinator for a family drug trafficking organization that moved cocaine through the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo.
U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera determined Brenda Banessa Leal was guilty of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to do the same following a bench trial that began Feb. 27, 2023 and ended March 1, 2023, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Olvera sentenced her to 10 years in prison on Wednesday.
“In handing down the sentence, the court noted Leal’s testimony at trial was not credible and the evidence against her led to her conviction,” the release stated.
During the trial in Brownsville federal court, Olvera heard evidence that since at least 2018, Leal helped several family members who were part of a drug trafficking organization smuggle drugs, primarily cocaine, that was hidden in the rear differential in tractor trailers.
“Several members of the organization reside in Cadereyta, Nuevo Leon, Mexico where Leal has lived the majority of her adult life,” the release stated. “She also assisted family members in transporting bulk cash money, ammunition and weapons to Mexico.”
Evidence used to convict Leal included text and WhatsApp messages, jail call recordings and videos.
Leal coordinated drivers, deals and cover loads in Texas and in June 2021 as Leal and co-conspirators were preparing to unload a truck with nearly 73 pounds of cocaine, another organization stole the cocaine.
That group was apprehended shortly after stealing the cocaine.
Leal’s attorneys tried to convince the judge that she didn’t know about the cocaine, but Olvera did not believe her.
She has remained in custody and will be transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility in the near future.
