Guadalupe Zuniga - North Carolina# 0653282
State: North Carolina
Sentence: 18 years, three months
Offense: Trafficking by possession; Maintaining a place for controlled substances
Court: Forsyth County
Priors: None
Date of Birth: 8/28/1978
Date of Sentencing: 5/28/1999
Projected Release Date: 4/30/2013
Nature of Offense: After arresting Guadalupe’s boyfriend for a drug offense in October 1998, narcotics officers proceeded to the home he resided in with Guadalupe, their daughter, and eight other individuals.
When they arrived the owner of the home consented to a search, and everyone was ordered outside with the exception of Guadalupe and her three-month old daughter who were in a back bedroom out of view from officers. As the officers entered the home they saw Guadalupe exit the bedroom and head towards a bathroom before she was ordered to stop in her tracks. Police then searched the house and discovered over 400 grams of cocaine in the bathroom and bedroom Guadalupe shared with her boyfriend.
Although she claimed that she had no knowledge of the drugs and vehemently denied that she was going to the bathroom to dispose of them as officers alleged, Guadalupe was arrested and held accountable for all the drugs found in the house. The three other adults present in the house at the time were not charged in the offense. Guadalupe took her case to trial where she was found guilty despite testimony from her boyfriend stating that the drugs were his and that Guadalupe had no knowledge of their existence.
Guideline Sentence: In North Carolina, trafficking over 400 grams of cocaine is a Class D felony that requires a minimum sentence of 175 months and a maximum of 219 months. Without the mandatory penalties, Guadalupe would have received a guideline sentence of 51 to 65 months for a criminal history category I in the presumptive range.
Sentences of Others Involved: Guadalupe’s boyfriend was charged with a lesser trafficking offense and received a sentence of five to seven years. He was released in September 2004.
Personal Background: Guadalupe came to the United States from Guerrero, Mexico when she was just 13-years old to live with one of her nine older siblings. She relocated to North Carolina approximately five years later where she took custodial and factory work to make a living before she was arrested for the current offense at the age of twenty. Guadalupe has one daughter who now lives in California with her sister and brother-in-law. Her daughter was only three months old when Guadalupe was arrested and is now nearly eight. Fortunately, Guadalupe is able to talk to her daughter twice a month and gets a visit from her twice a year through the MATCH program (Mothers and Their Children). Guadalupe reports that these visits have enabled her to have a close relationship with her daughter despite their distance from each other. Guadalupe’s parents write to her frequently, but are unable to make the trip to visit her from Mexico. Guadalupe has obtained her GED in prison and taken English as well as other educational courses since her incarceration.
Compiled from PSR and inmate information.
BA 8/24/06