Mom who sold kids to settle drug debt gets 6 years behind bars

A mom who sold her 7-year-old son and planned to sell her two daughters, ages 2 and 3, to settle a drug debt, was sentenced to six years in prison.

Esmeralda Garza, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was sentenced on Friday after taking a plea deal last Monday, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reported.

Garza, who sold her son to a woman for $2,500, was convicted on three counts of selling or purchasing a child, money laundering, and conspiring to sell or purchase a child. Her sentences – six years for selling her children and two years for her other charges – will run concurrently.

In June of last year, officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety found Garza’s son in a Corpus Christi home after conducting a drug search warrant.

“Further investigation revealed two more female children, ages 2 and 3, who were in the process of being sold,” according to a release following Garza’s arrest last June.

Garza told police that she and her boyfriend decided to sell the children to pay off a drug debt.

“Garza stated that she and her boyfriend owe drug money and gave her child to (the woman) who (paid) $500 cash and clear the (owed) debt and an extra $700 when the ‘custody paperwork’ was signed,” according to the arrest affidavit.

An unidentified man and woman were also arrested during the raid, though it’s not clear if they were involved in the sale of the children.

A Child Protective Services case is pending.