Group Trafficked Large Quantities of Meth from Texas into SW Virginia
Abingdon, VIRGINIA - The final two members of a drug trafficking conspiracy that supplied local sources with large qualities of ICE methamphetamine for multiple years were sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.
Ronald Sizemore, 56, of Kentucky, previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute ICE methamphetamine. Today in District Court, Sizemore was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison. Also in District Court today, Ysidro Juarez III, 53, of Houston, Texas, who previously pled guilty to a lesser included count of conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison.
During previous hearings, Angel Soliz Jr., 37, of Houston was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison and Angel Soliz Sr., 53, also of Houston, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison. Soliz Jr. also agreed to forfeit more than $800,000 in cash to the United States, which was seized from his home in Texas. Another co-conspirator, Bige Maggard, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.
According to evidence presented by prosecutors, the defendants admitted to being the sources of much of the ICE methamphetamine that was sold in a multi-defendant conspiracy and which has resulted in more than a dozen federal convictions in U.S. District Court in Abingdon. Soliz Sr. and Soliz Jr. coordinated the supply of methamphetamine from Texas, while other co-defendants worked under them to help distribute the drugs. During the course of the conspiracy, various persons from Eastern Kentucky and Southwest Virginia would traveled to Texas to purchase methamphetamine and subsequently transport it back via interstate highways, avoiding law enforcement detection along the way. Once the ICE methamphetamine had arrived in Kentucky and Virginia, it would be distributed to others using local dealer, such as Sizemore.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; United States Drug Enforcement Administration; Virginia State Police; Kentucky State Police; Harris County, Texas Sherriff’s Office; and Russell County, Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. Special Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Jayne and Special Assistant United States Attorney and Russell County Commonwealth Attorney Brian Patton prosecuted the case for the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
