22-year-old woman pleads guilty to international drug dealing charges

June 23, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Kenia Valdez Alvarez pleaded guilty to international drug dealing charges at Brooklyn Federal Court. Eagle file photo by Paul Frangipane.

Share this:

A 22-year-old woman pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to internationally distribute large amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana throughout the U.S. and Mexico, including in Brooklyn.

Kenia Valdez Alvarez, of Mazatlan, Mexico, wiped tears away at Brooklyn Federal Court as she prepared herself to plead guilty to helping distribute 100g of heroin, 500g of cocaine, 50g of methamphetamine and 100kg of marijuana throughout Mexico and the U.S.

“I made telephone calls for a person who I knew was involved in narcotrafficking,” Alvarez said through a translator to Judge Carol Bagley Amon in court. “I knew what we were doing [and] that is was wrong.”

Alvarez pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in the indictment that included at least 25 more alleged members of the drug ring. Her charge yields a maximum of 40 years in prison with a $5 million fee and a mandatory minimum of five years in prison.

“I cannot give you less than 5 years,” Bagley Amon said to a red-faced, sniffling Alvarez.

Alvarez is not a U.S. citizen and will be deported after her prison term.

Between June 2013 and December 2016, the drug ring allegedly distributed around 1000 kilos (2205 pounds) of drugs throughout Mexico and across the U.S. from Brooklyn to California.

Prosecutors said other members sold the drugs in Brooklyn and picked up money in Staten Island, among other areas of the U.S., while protecting their business with guns.

The judge asked Alvarez if she knew the amount of drugs she was helping to peddle.

“I did not know exactly what quantities,” Alvarez said. “But I knew it was a large amount.”

Alvarez hugged her lawyer Susan Kellman for at least 10 seconds after the plea.

Kellman did not wish to comment.

Alvarez’s sentencing is set for Oct. 20.