BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A Houston woman has been sentenced for her role in assisting several family members who were part of a drug trafficking organization, the United States Attorney’s Office announced.
Brenda Banessa Leal has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted Leal’s testimony in her 2023 trial was not credible and the evidence against her led to her conviction.
As previously reported by ValleyCentral, since 2018 Leal assisted her family in drug trafficking. Her role consisted of helping to transport narcotics, mainly cocaine, from Mexico to Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley, the district attorney’s office said.
Evidence from Leal’s text and WhatsApp messages between co-conspirators, jail call recordings as well as videos detailing Leal’s criminal actions revealed that between February and June 2021, Leal was the logistics coordinator of the drug trafficking organization. Her role as “logistics coordinator” consisted of communicating with drivers and dealers and covering loads on this side of the border.
Leal was busted in June 2021 after she and her co-conspirators were robbed of their cocaine by another drug trafficking organization.
While the defense attempted to prove Leal’s innocence by stating she did not have knowledge of the cocaine hidden in the trailer, the judge did not believe those claims.
Leal will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
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