South Texas woman sentenced 8 years in prison for multi-state cocaine trafficking conspiracy

VICTORIA, Texas — A South Texas woman was sentenced Jan. 10 to eight years in federal prison for her role in a multi-state cocaine trafficking conspiracy following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations Houston’s Victoria office, with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Starr County District Attorney’s Office; Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office; and Texas Office of the Attorney General.

Idalia Guzman, a 47-year-old resident of Pharr, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to eight years in prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. Guzman pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 6, 2019.

The investigation began in 2017 when authorities discovered that a group was planning to smuggle an undetermined amount of cocaine from Hidalgo County past the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias.

Authorities stopped a vehicle that Guzman was driving in Premont and discovered approximately a half kilogram of cocaine concealed in the vehicle. Her husband, Victor Del Toro, also a resident of Pharr, was a passenger in the vehicle. In 2019, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the drug trafficking conspiracy.

At the time of her plea, Guzman admitted to her involvement in the conspiracy and acknowledged she had transported the same amount of cocaine more than 10 times previously in the same manner.

At the hearing, the court heard testimony from the prison ministries representative that Guzman had received a theology degree while awaiting sentencing. The court took that into consideration when determining her sentence.

She will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined soon.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patti Hubert Booth and David Paxton prosecuted the case.

For more news and information on HSI’s efforts to aggressively investigate drug trafficking in Southeast Texas follow us on Twitter @HSIHouston.