CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A 32-year-old Corpus Christi woman has been sentenced for trafficking narcotics out of a local residence, according to the Department of Justice.
Authorities say Melissa Rendon sold narcotics from a Corpus Christi residence where she recruited a woman to live out of and distribute drugs for her. It was at that location that law enforcement officers reportedly found meth, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, cocaine base and other drug-related paraphernalia while conducting a search warrant in July 2022.
In a press release, the DOJ said that a federal court received evidence that Rendon tried to obstruct the investigation into her actions by using her daughter, a minor, to hide evidence from authorities.
Rendon was not present at the residence when the July 2022 search warrant was executed. Law enforcement conducted a month-long surveillance of the home and found several people once they entered, but not Rendon. They also found narcotics- some packaged for sale- throughout the residence.
On March 2, 2023, authorities conducted a second search. After witnessing Rendon leave the residence with four children and drop them off at school, officers recovered cocaine, cocaine base, Ziploc baggies, a digital scale, latex gloves and several pieces of mail addressed to Rendon.
The 32-year-old was ordered to serve 120 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Investigators Rendon made calls from the jail asking her daughter to go to her residence, find a white cell phone, change the password and delete everything including all of the pictures, Facebook, texts and Snapchat from the phone.
Rendon will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility that will be determined in the near future.
The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Nueces County District Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigation Unit.
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