CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Corpus Christi woman was sentenced to federal prison for disguising meth-laced papers as mail and sending them to the Coastal Bend Detention Center.
On July 21, 54-year-old Gail Hostetter pleaded guilty to knowingly and intentionally possessing and attempting to provide meth to an inmate at the detention center.
US District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ordered Hostetter on Tuesday to serve 24 months in federal prison, followed immediately by two years of supervised release.
On Jan. 9, 2021, 54-year-old Gail Hostetter mailed a letter alleging to be from a local law firm to an inmate at the Coastal Bend Detention Center.
Facility staff opened the mail before it could reach the inmate, which is protocol, and sent it for testing; it was positive for meth.
A search warrant was issued on Hostetter's home, where police found empty envelopes that were pre-addressed from various local law firms.
Federal agencies' investigations found that the inmate had recruited others to help smuggle drugs into the detention center in envelopes that looked like legal documents.
Hostetter, one of those recruits, admitted to mailing meth into a jail facility at least once before on a different occasion.
Hostetter will remain in custody until she is transferred to a currently undetermined US Bureau of Prisons facility.
