Guadalupe Zuniga - North Carolina
State: North Carolina
Sentence: 18 years, 3 months
Offense: Trafficking by possession; maintaining a place for controlled substances
Priors: None
Year sentenced: 1999
Age at sentencing: 23
Projected release date: April 30, 2013
Guadalupe moved to the United States from Guerrero, Mexico at the age of 13 to live with one of her older siblings. Guadalupe knew the meaning of hard work from an early age—she labored long hours in factories and as a custodian in North Carolina to make ends meet.
Guadalupe’s boyfriend was arrested for a drug offense in October 1998. The police proceeded to the home he shared with Guadalupe, their daughter, and eight other individuals. When the police arrived, the owner of the home consented to a search and everyone was ordered outside with the exception of Guadalupe and her 3-month old daughter who were in a back bedroom. As the officers entered the home they saw Guadalupe exit the bedroom and ordered her to stop. Police then searched the house and discovered over 400 grams of cocaine in the bathroom and room Guadalupe shared with her boyfriend. Although Guadalupe claimed that she had no knowledge of the drugs and vehemently denied that she was leaving the room to dispose of them as officers alleged, she was arrested and held accountable for the entirety of cocaine found in the house. The three other adults present in the house 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. In North Carolina, trafficking over 400 grams of cocaine is a Class D felony that mandates 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. Guadalupe’s boyfriend was charged with a lesser trafficking offense and received a sentence of 5 to 7 years. He was released in September 2004. Guadalupe, a young mother with no criminal history, was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of over 18 years in prison.
Guadalupe’s daughter was only three months old when her mother was arrested. She is now nearly 11 and lives in California with Guadalupe’s sister. 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 is grateful for these visits as it has 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. Since her incarceration, Guadalupe has obtained her GED in prison and excelled in English as well as other educational courses.