Sending Meth-Laced Mail Into Federal Detention Center Lands Corpus Woman in Prison
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 54-year-old woman residing in Corpus Christi has been ordered to federal prison for mailing meth-laced papers disguised as mail to the Coastal Bend Detention Center (CBDC), announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Gail Hostetter pleaded guilty July 21 to knowingly and intentionally possessing and attempting to provide meth to an inmate.
Today, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ordered Hostetter to serve 24 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by two years of supervised release.
On Jan. 29, 2021, Hostetter mailed a letter purporting to be from a local law firm to an inmate at CBDC. However, facility staff intercepted it and sent it for testing. The mail tested positive for meth. Law enforcement subsequently executed a search warrant on Hostetter’s residence where they found additional empty envelopes pre-addressed from various local law firms.
The investigation revealed the inmate devised the plan and recruited Hostetter among others to mail meth-laced papers into the detention center. The scheme involved creating envelopes designed to look like legal mail.
At the time of her plea, Hostetter admitted to mailing meth into a jail facility on at least one other occasion.
She has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service, The GEO Group, Drug Enforcement Administration, Corpus Christi Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Bureau of Prisons and FBI Miami Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Marck and Christopher Marin prosecuted the case.
