( CNN ) In Mexico 's male-dominated drug trade , her life story became a legend . Now , after more than seven years behind bars , the woman known as `` The Queen of the Pacific '' is free . A judge ruled in favor of her appeal last week , Mexico 's Attorney General 's Office said in a statement Saturday . Sandra Ávila Beltrán 's story is the subject of a best-selling book and a popular ballad . She was first arrested in Mexico City on September 28 , 2007 , smiling before cameras as authorities trumpeted her detention . Later , Ávila made headlines when Mexican authorities said they were investigating a tip that she had received Botox treatments in prison . Ávila is the niece of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo , founder of the now-defunct Guadalajara cartel . She 's also related to drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero , who was released from a Mexican prison in a controversial 2013 decision and now has a $ 5 million State Department bounty on his head . Mexico 's case against her drew widespread attention as it made its way through the nation 's courts . She was absolved of a money laundering charge in her first trial . In 2012 , authorities extradited her to the United States , where she was accused of conspiring to smuggle cocaine along with Juan Diego Espinosa Ramirez , a Colombian national who was also known as `` The Tiger . '' Ávila denied the charges . Authorities never convicted her of any drug-trafficking crimes , but prosecutors have said Ávila was once a key link in the drug trade between Colombia and Mexico . A 2008 U.S. congressional Research Service report described her as `` a senior member of the Sinaloa cartel who was instrumental '' in building ties with Colombian traffickers . In 2013 , she pleaded guilty in a Florida court to a charge connected to the case , but U.S. prosecutors dropped the cocaine trafficking conspiracy charge . As part of the plea deal , Avila said she provided `` financial assistance for travel , lodging and other expenses '' to Espinosa from 2002 to 2004 `` with the intention of preventing or hindering his arrest for his drug trafficking crimes . '' Later that year , she was deported back to Mexico . Last year , she was sentenced to five more years in prison and a fine for money laundering . But on Friday , a judge ruled that the conviction was not valid because she 'd already been tried for the same crime in Mexico and the United States , Mexico 's Attorney General 's Office said . A popular ballad about Ávila sung by the band Los Tigres del Norte , titled `` The Queen of Queens , '' describes her 2007 arrest . `` The more beautiful the rose , '' one line in the song says , `` the sharper the thorns . '' In an interview with Anderson Cooper that aired on `` 60 Minutes '' and CNN in 2009 , Ávila denied the charges against her and blamed Mexico 's government for allowing drug trafficking to flourish . `` In Mexico there 's a lot of corruption , a lot . Large shipments of drugs can come into the Mexican ports or airports without the authorities knowing about it . It 's obvious and logical , '' she said . `` The government has to be involved in everything that is corrupt . '' CNN 's Claudia Dominguez contributed to this report .
Sandra Ávila Beltrán , known as `` The Queen of the Pacific , '' leaves prison . A judge ruled in favor of her appeal last week . She has been accused of drug trafficking but never convicted .