News Releases and Statements

Manuel Alejandro Soto-Bazan, 36, of Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane on Feb. 22 to serve 135 months in federal prison. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment.

Manuel Ignacio Ley Villa, 54, was sentenced Feb. 14 to 255 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the judge noted Ley Villa had been previously convicted for the same offense.

Jeffery Wills, 39, was sentenced Feb. 14 to serve 135 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the judge heard evidence that Wills served as a key player in handling narcotics imported from Mexico for distribution along the East Coast.

On Feb. 15, the USMS and HSI San Juan arrested Christopher Maldonado-Lopez and Christian Maldonado-Lopez, the final remaining fugitives from Operation Youngblood, in Newark, New Jersey.

Officials removed 110 packages from the vehicle with a total combined weight of 72.05 kilograms (158.8 pounds). The packages contained blue pills with “M30” markings, and the initial investigation determined the pills contained fentanyl.

Josue Adan Lemus-Lara aka Fenix, 39, of Esquipulas, Guatemala, was convicted on all charges in a maritime cocaine trafficking conspiracy following a weeklong jury trial in November 2023.  

Chad Williams Wesevich, 40, and his brother Jamie Wesevich, 41, both residents of Corpus Christi, were sentenced Feb. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to serve 360, 240 and 60 months, respectively, for conspiracy to manufacture and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court documents, a Brewster County sheriff’s deputy stopped Ana Cristina Alarcon Rios, 24, of Chihuahua, for speeding along Highway 90 in Alpine.

Christian Noel Medina Torres, 35, of Lakeland, faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

Sally Renae Smith, 54, was sentenced Feb. 6 to 292 months in prison. She pleaded guilty July 21, 2022.

Malik Dillard, 47, received the sentence Feb. 2 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk.

Authorities arrested six suspects on felony drug-related charges — all within one hour of activity.

Timothy Brian Jackson, 44, of South Charleston, admitted that he created and intended to distribute counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl or other opioids.

Alonso “Galladita” Pineda-Torres, 52, of Colombia, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine on vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

Roberto Tovar, 47, of Del Rio, was sentenced Jan. 29 to 168 months in federal prison. His co-defendant, Melissa Villarreal, 36, of Del Rio, was sentenced to 135 months in prison. Tovar pleaded guilty June 24, 2021, and Villarreal pleaded guilty March 28, 2022.

The judge ordered Jesus Hector Lagarda-Gil, 45, of Mexico, to forfeit a 2018 Mazda CX5 automobile and $148,000 in U.S. currency. Lagarda-Gil pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on Sept. 21, 2023.

Phil Cuellar III, a 36-year-old resident of Corpus Christi and documented gang member, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 168 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamines.

A federal judge sentenced Juan Mendoza, 53, to 62 months in federal prison. He also faces loss of his legal status and possible removal proceedings. At the hearing, the judge heard evidence that Mendoza had smuggled illegal narcotics on other occasions.

Noe De Jesus Martinez-Montelongo, 36, and Fidel Rodriguez-Saldana, 35, both from Nuevo Leon, Mexico, were sentenced by a federal judge to 235 months in prison as well.

Following Siragusa Romero’s arrest, only two of the 42 original fugitives remain at large — Christopher Maldonado-Lopez and Christian Maldonado-Lopez.

On Jan. 11, Monica Mata Vasquez, 49, was sentenced to 136 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the judge emphasized the significance of the case, noting that fentanyl is destroying the community and killing people across the country.

For the past several months since Operation Youngblood was executed on Sept. 22, 2023, Homeland Security Investigations San Juan has shared updates on the status of the fugitives of the Hasta Los Marcian criminal organization.

HSI San Juan, along with the Puerto Rico Police Bureau and the U.S. Marshals Service, arrested Shaquille Emmanuel Rivera–De Jesus, one of the fugitives of HSI’s Operation Youngblood executed on Sept. 22, 2023.

Kahlil Felder, 39, of Southeast Washington D.C., was arraigned on a four-count indictment charging him with possession with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and using, carrying and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, among other charges. Felder was ordered detained pending trial.

William Reyes Garcia, 33, of Silver Spring, Maryland, received the 15-year prison sentence at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt on Dec. 5.