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Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts in Houston, Texas
February 26, 2007
MEAT MARKET OWNERS CONVICTED OF SELLING COCAINE AND MONEY LAUNDERING
[CORPUS CHRISTI, TX] – The owners of the Country Meat Market have been convicted of 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 pleaded guilty to laundering thousands of dollars generated from Garcia’s drug dealing. Garcia pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiring to distribute cocaine.
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. Today, Perez admitted to laundering the drug proceeds generated from the illegal drug sales by deposting 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 quantites 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. How much cocaine Garcia will be held accountable for distributing and how much money Perez will be held responsible for laundering are issues expected to be discussed and decided at sentencing.
Perez, who had been free on bond since her arrest in December, 2006, was immediately ordered into federal custody to await sentencing. For the money laundering conviction, Perez faces up to twenty years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Garcia has been in federal custody since his arrest, and faces no less than five and up to forty years imprisonment for his drug conspiracy conviction and a $2.0 million fine. Chief U. S. District Judge Hayden Head has set sentencing for May 31, 2007, at 9:00 a.m. for both defendants.
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