PHILADELPHIA, PA — A 29-year-old woman from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, was sentenced Monday to 34 months in prison for transporting nearly 15 pounds of cocaine in a checked bag on a commercial flight to Philadelphia, federal prosecutors said.
Karelys Colon Sevilla was also sentenced to five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Kelley Brisbon Hodge, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The defendant pleaded guilty in October 2025 to possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine following her indictment in May 2024.
According to court filings, Homeland Security Investigations received information on February 13, 2024, that Colon was traveling from Puerto Rico to Philadelphia, with a stop in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and may have been carrying narcotics in her luggage.
Investigators confirmed Colon’s travel itinerary and obtained an anticipatory search warrant from the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, contingent on a K-9 alert.
After the flight arrived at Philadelphia International Airport, a Pennsylvania State Police K-9 alerted to a single piece of checked luggage associated with the defendant.
Authorities searched the bag and recovered approximately 6.8 kilograms of cocaine, prosecutors said.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eileen Castilla Geiger prosecuted the case.
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