INDIANAPOLIS — A federal judge has pushed Allision Perdue’s sentencing after the Seymour woman who had ties to a Mexican drug cartel once run by notorious leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has agreed to plead guilty to charges related to conspiracy to transport drugs from Mexico to Bartholomew County and elsewhere.
U.S. District Judge James R. Sweeney II moved the sentencing hearing from May 23 to July 9.
Perdue’s attorney, Denise L. Turner, requested the delay because she “believes additional assistance from a mental health expert is necessary to prepare for sentencing,” according to court filings.
Last year, Perdue filed a petition to plead guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of meth. Perdue is facing ten years to life in prison, a $10 million fine, and at least five years on supervised probation upon her release.
According to Federal investigators, Perdue is one of more than a dozen people who were part of the drug trafficking network that used several couriers and mailing companies to transport large amounts of meth, fentanyl, and other substances from the U.S./Mexico border to Indianapolis.
According to investigators, the drugs would then be delivered to other individuals who distribute them in central and southern Indiana, including Bartholomew and Jackson Counties.
Claudio Garcia-Morales of Columbus, Abel Ayala-Garcia of Columbus, Victor Vazquez-Hernandez of Seymour, and Erlin Lucero-Asencio of Columbus were also arrested.
Vazquez-Hernandez was sentenced to ten years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Garcia-Morales was sentenced to three years and ten months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Ayala-Garcia and Lucero-Asencio are scheduled to appear in court on May 20 for a hearing to determine whether they know they have been offered plea agreements.
Lucero-Asencio recently withdrew his petition to plead guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, with his recently appointed attorney telling a federal judge that he “did not fully understand his sentencing guidelines or possible sentencing adjustments when he signed his original request to plead guilty.”
Ayala-Garcia and Lucero-Asencio will go to trial on August 26.
