Woman gets 20 yrs. for meth trafficking

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A federal judge in South Texas has sentenced a Mexican woman to nearly 20 years in prison for smuggling methamphetamines into the country.

U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle sentenced 60-year-old Reyna Osorio Martinez in Brownsville on Monday to 235 months in prison. Jurors found her guilty last fall of several charges, including possession, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and conspiracy to import.

Court records indicate customs officers found more than 14 pounds of methamphetamine after stopping the car Osorio was riding in at an international bridge in Brownsville in April.

A U.S. attorney's statement says crossing records reviewed by investigators showed that Osorio had entered the United States in that vehicle several times before, including with someone who was arrested in Laredo with methamphetamine just three days earlier.