A mail carrier who reportedly helped traffic approximately 11 to 33 pounds of cocaine from California to Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced Wednesday to prison for three years and four months, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The outlet stated: 

Tammy Rena Sowell, a 30-year-old mother of two children who had no prior criminal record, pleaded guilty in December to a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. She faced a maximum of 40 years in prison, but federal sentencing guidelines called for a term of roughly six to seven years. U.S. District Judge David J. Novak also imposed three years of supervision after Sowell’s release from prison.

In a sentencing document, prosecutors reportedly wrote Sowell “accepted bribes in a wildly successful cocaine trafficking conspiracy.”

Three others involved were identified in records as “co-conspirators” one, two, and three, the article said, adding that in pleading guilty, Sowell admitted from August 2019 until August 2020 she distributed ten packages and received $500 for every time.

Authorities explained she named addresses where the individuals could ship the packages, which included her house, and once they were shipped she “would remove the parcels containing the cocaine from the postal stream and deliver them to Co-Conspirator #1 and Co-Conspirator #2,” the article stated.

However, the alleged operation fell apart in August when a package with approximately a kilogram of cocaine was seized by authorities:

After most of the cocaine was removed and a GPS tracker was placed inside the package, law enforcement made a “controlled delivery” of the package to Sowell. Sowell left the package inside a vehicle belonging to one of the traffickers. After discovering that cocaine was missing, the conspirator threw the package from his vehicle and attempted to flee. No further information was available Wednesday.