A Laredo resident has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for smuggling methamphetamine into the United States. U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei announced that Jose Pascual Soliz, 38, pleaded guilty on May 16.
U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison ordered Soliz to serve 240 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. The court considered Soliz's involvement with Cartel De Noreste and his recruitment of others, including Carla Miranda Aleman, to carry out the smuggling operations. Soliz admitted to participating in at least six to eight instances of drug trafficking, marking his third felony conviction and second related to narcotics.
The court heard that Soliz recruited young women like Aleman and used his minor daughter in the process. Aleman, aged 20, had previously received a sentence of 41 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Authorities seized over 11.85 kilograms of methamphetamine from Soliz and Aleman on April 19, 2023. The drugs were part of a larger quantity that had been hidden in a vehicle’s gas tank after being smuggled into the country; the remainder had already been distributed.
The methamphetamine was discovered when the vehicle underwent repairs due to damage caused by concealing the drugs. Investigations revealed that Aleman and Soliz used this vehicle for smuggling purposes.
Soliz will remain in custody until he is transferred to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
The FBI conducted the investigation with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Scott Bowling prosecuted the case.
This case falls under Operation Take Back America, an initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration and eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations through resources from various Department of Justice task forces.
