Oakwood woman sentenced to 9 years in prison in 2021 meth case
May 11—The last of four defendants charged in a 200-kilogram methamphetamine case was sentenced Monday, May 8, in federal court, according to court documents.
Almarud Duarte, 27, of Oakwood, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. She was sentenced to nine years in federal prison.
Duarte and three men were indicted in October 2021 after the 200-kilogram drug bust.
Authorities did not provide an estimated street value for the drugs seized, but cases like this typically range in the millions of dollars.
In September, David Garcia, 42, of Duluth, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while Eduardo Penaloza-Pacheco, 38, of Gainesville, was sentenced to five years in prison.
In January, Kevin Tello, 27, of Lawrenceville, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Tello and Garcia supplied the drugs to Duarte, who then sold the drugs. The bulk of the drugs was found in Garcia's Duluth residence.
All four will be on supervised release for five years following their prison sentences.
"I'm pleased to see these offenders will spend time behind bars for their crimes," Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch said in a statement. "As you can see from this case, and so many others now under investigation, it takes teamwork to get these dangerous narcotics off of our streets. The Hall County Sheriff's Office remains committed to the fight against illegal drugs pouring into our communities."
Duarte's defense attorney, Molly Parmer, wrote in a sentencing memo that Duarte was born in Gainesville but moved to Guerrero, Mexico at 2 years old.
"During Ms. Duarte's adolescent years, life in Guerrero hovered at the edge of violence," Parmer wrote. "Her uncle was brutally murdered in 2009. Ms. Duarte remembers her family bringing his bloody corpse down from the mountain in a hammock wrapped in blankets. She helped clean and dress his body and comforted his children. She also stopped sleeping, too afraid that the cartel would return."
Duarte returned to Gainesville at 16 but struggled in adjusting, her attorney wrote.
Parmer said her client was "profoundly remorseful" for her actions, adding that she acted at the direction of her father.
"Her fate is knowing that she furthered the efforts of a dangerous drug trafficking enterprise and threw her life away for, essentially, nothing," Parmer wrote.
Duarte was paid between $1,500 and $2000 in total for her involvement, and she cooperated with law enforcement after her arrest, Parmer wrote.
Parmer asked for a sentence of five years.
Parmer did not return a request for comment from The Times.
