CORPUS CHRISTI, TX. – A mother who sold her son and attempted to sell her other children to pay off a drug debt was sentenced to six years in prison.
On Friday, April 5, 2019, Esmerelda Garza, 29, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was convicted of selling her son for $2500. In addition, she attempted to sell her two daughters to pay off a drug debt. As part of a plea deal she admitted to three counts of selling or purchasing a child, a third-degree felony. She was convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to sell or purchase a child.
Garza was arrested after the Texas Department of Public Safety Special Agents executed a search warrant on June 29, 2018. During the drug search warrant in Corpus Christi, agents located Garza’s 7-year-old son, who had been sold. Two other female children belonging to Garza who were 2 and 3-years-old were also in the process of being sold TxDPS officials said.
She was sentenced to six years for selling her child, and two years for money laundering and conspiracy to sell or purchase a child, which will be served concurrently.
