Leigha Simonton, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said that three men who were involved in a drug plot that killed three teens in north Texas have been given a total of 35 years in federal jail.
Three people, Rafael Soliz Jr., 23, Jason Xavier Villanueva, 23, and Robert Alexander Gaitan, 20, were charged in March 2023. They admitted in June 2023 that they were guilty of one count of plot to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of sale of fentanyl to a person under the age of 21.
Gaitan pleaded guilty in July 2023 to planning to have 40 grams or more of fentanyl to sell it. Gaitan was given a 5-year sentence by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade, while Villanueva and Soliz were given 15-year sentences.
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“Precious children in our north Texas community died—and more overdosed and almost died—as a direct result of these defendants’ actions,” U.S. Attorney Simonton said. “We will not stop until every dealer or trafficker knows that we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law if you distribute the deadly drug of fentanyl.”
Eduardo A. Chávez, the special agent in charge of the DEA in Dallas, agreed with Simonton and said, “Nobody won today.” This is what drug abuse and trade do. Sad to say, some lives will never be the same again after what happened.
According to Chief Roberto Arredondo of the Carrollton Police Department, they are committed to fighting the national problem. He said, “We will not rest until we have rid our great community of this poison and those responsible for preying on our citizens are behind bars.”
According to court papers, Villanueva admitted to selling more than 200,000 fentanyl pills to people in north Texas for five or six months. He did this by working with a group of juvenile and adult drug sellers, such as Gaitan and Soliz. They knew that some of their customers were as young as 13 years old.