PELL CITY, Ala. – A woman living in the U.S. illegally has been sentenced to federal prison after selling fentanyl to an undercover DEA agent at a Buc-ee’s travel center in Leeds, Alabama.
Claudia Montano Gonzalez, 43, pleaded guilty in 2024 to multiple drug charges, including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, distribution of fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
On Monday, U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona announced that U.S. District Judge Corey L. Maze sentenced Gonzalez to over three years in federal prison.
The drug deal occurred in October 2023, after DEA agents received a tip from a confidential informant about a fentanyl supplier known as “Perro.” The informant said the suspect charged $1,700 for two ounces of fentanyl.
Through WhatsApp, the DEA arranged a controlled buy with Gonzalez, who delivered the fentanyl to an agent at Buc-ee’s.
According to prosecutors, Gonzalez’s husband, David Angel Alejandres, helped coordinate the drug deal from Mexico. He remains at large.
Following the bust, agents searched the couple’s Pell City home, where they found a kilogram of fentanyl along with heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana.
Court documents show Gonzalez also owned a commercial cleaning business.
The case was investigated by the DEA with help from the Pell City Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittany T. Byrd.
