Eastern District of Texas prosecutes five defendants
Posted/updated on: July 6, 2026 at 11:43 pm
PLANO – Five defendants were sentenced to 903 months in federal prison as U.S. Attorney’s Office advances DOJ mission to protect the he Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative that was established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad.
Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
The Eastern District of Texas had an operation that netted five defendants with sentences to a total of 903 months in federal prison, according to a news release, five defendants were sentenced to a total of 903 months in federal prison during the month of June as part of the Homeland Security Task Force, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.
Those cases include:
On June 9, 2026, David Ortiz-Moreno, 55, a Mexican national illegally living in Fate, Texas, was sentenced to 170 months in federal prison for being involved in a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. Ortiz-Moreno was responsible for the distribution of at least 50 grams of methamphetamine.
On June 10, 2026, Abrahan Solano-Zarate, 42, a Mexican national illegally living in Dallas, was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison for being involved in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Solano-Zarate distributed at least five kilograms of cocaine.
On June 10, 2026, Corrigan man, Jose Pedro Guzman, Jr., 35, was the final defendant sentenced in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in the Eastern District of Texas. Guzman was sentenced to 130 months in federal prison for drug trafficking violations. In all, 17 individuals were convicted and sentenced in this investigation t0alling, months, or more than 184 years, in federal prison.
On June 15, 2026, a Mexican national illegally living in Dallas was sentenced to 270 months in federal prison for trafficking methamphetamine in the Eastern District of Texas, according to court documents, Juan Lopez-Carmona, 32, was responsible for moving large amounts of illegal narcotics from Mexico to the United States for redistribution.
On June 15, 2026, Dulio Ariel De-La-O, 25, of Irving, was sentenced to 165 months in federal prison for trafficking over “k-packs” or 1,000 pill quantities of fentanyl-laced pills. A search of De-La-O’s residence resulted in the seizure of over 3,000 counterfeit Xanax pills laced with fentanyl and $91,799 in cash.
HSTF Dallas comprises agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Dallas Field Office; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations – Dallas (ICE-HSI); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Dallas Field Division; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Dallas Field Division; Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations (IRS-CD; United States Postal Service, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS); United States Secret Service (USSS); Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DSS); TEXOMA HIDTA; and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Eastern District of Texas.
For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, please visit here
