U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson | U.S. Department of Justice
Alejandro Lagunas Penaloza, also known as Jose Alfredo Castro Reyes, has been sentenced to 60 months in prison by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady. The 47-year-old from Michoacan, Mexico, pleaded guilty to distributing 500 grams or more of cocaine. This was announced by United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.
Following his prison term, Lagunas Penaloza will undergo four years of supervised release. According to case documents, he sold a kilogram of cocaine to an undercover law enforcement agent on March 7, 2023. It was noted that Lagunas Penaloza was illegally present in the United States at the time.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Allen County Drug Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fort Wayne Safe Streets Gang Task Force. This task force includes members from the FBI, Indiana State Police, Allen County Police Department, and Fort Wayne Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony W. Geller prosecuted the case.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation which aims to identify and dismantle high-level drug traffickers and criminal organizations threatening the United States through a collaborative approach involving federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
