Texas Couple Serving Decades in Federal Prison for Importing, Distributing Meth

DEL RIO, Texas - A Texas man was sentenced in a federal court in Del Rio to 37 years in prison for conspiracy to import and distribute methamphetamine.

According to court documents, Joseph Ivy, 45, and his spouse, Yvette Contreras, 35, imported and sold large amounts of methamphetamine. Deputies from the Dimmit County Sheriff's Office conducted a search warrant on their home in Catarina Aug. 18, 2020, discovering 1.5 kgs of methamphetamine, $7,389 in cash, two firearms, and a ledger documenting narcotic transactions. On Aug. 21, 2023, DCSO deputies apprehended Ivy during a traffic stop and found 2.4 kgs of methamphetamine in his vehicle.

Ivy admitted to transporting three kgs of methamphetamine to Moorhead, Minn. and four kgs to Charlotte, Texas. He and Contreras also admitted to working with a third conspirator, Margaret Charles Garcia. On at least two occasions, Garcia imported methamphetamine from Mexico at the instruction of Ivy.

Contreras was sentenced April 13, 2023 to 25 years in prison for her role in the conspiracy. Garcia pleaded guilty March 7, 2022 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Garcia's sentence hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2.

"These traffickers worked directly with Mexican drug cartels to bring loads of harmful narcotics into our communities and peddle them for a profit," said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. "My office remains committed, along with our local, federal and state partners, to dismantling criminal organizations and holding their personnel accountable for these serious offenses."

"This Texas couple pushed large amounts of methamphetamine onto South Texas streets, and this lengthy prison sentence officially puts them out of business," said Deputy Special Agent in Charge Alejandro Amaro for the Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Division. "HSI is committed to disrupting prolific drug traffickers like Joseph Ivy and Yvette Contreras - criminals with no regard for the incredible damage they inflict on so many lives and communities."

HSI and the DCSO investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brett Miner and Zach Bird prosecuted the case.

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