Nereyda Garcia Salazar, 47, of Pasadena, Texas, will serve an active prison sentence of at least six years following her conviction for trafficking opium/heroin during Catawba County Superior Court on Thursday, March 7, 2019.
The Honorable Nathaniel J. Poovey, Superior Court Judge from Catawba County, imposed the mandatory active prison sentence of six to eight years for Salazar after she pleaded guilty.
The defendant will serve her prison term in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections. She also will be required to pay a mandatory fine of $50,000.
Agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) received information that a female would be bringing a large amount of heroin into Catawba County.
Salazar took a bus from Texas to Hickory and met with an undercover DEA agent on Dec. 13, 2018, to sell the drugs. When the defendant was approached and detained, she gave consent for a search, and 2.5 pounds of heroin was found packaged inside a T-shirt in her purse.
Sgt. Daniel Orders led the investigation for Hickory Police Department in collaboration with agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Jessica Phillips prosecuted the case for the District Attorney’s Office.
CONTACT: Nathan Key
Phone: 828-695-6193
Email: Nathan.D.Key@nccourts.org