Miguel Angel Aleman-Piceno, 23, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced in Bluefield, West Virginia to three years of federal probation for conspiracy to commit the felony crime of attempting to introduce contraband into a federal prison.
Court documents and statements presented in court indicate that on February 1, 2024, Aleman-Piceno and co-defendant Francisco Alejandro Gonzalez approached the fence at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) McDowell. They were carrying a backpack and duffle bag with a drone and two camouflaged packages containing four cell phones, chargers, phone cards, marijuana, and tobacco. As part of his guilty plea, Aleman-Piceno admitted they planned to use the drone to fly the packages onto prison grounds but were stopped by law enforcement before launching the device.
Aleman-Piceno also admitted traveling from Chicago to McDowell County with Gonzalez and another co-defendant, Arturo Joel Gallegos. He believed he would be paid $3,000 for delivering the packages into FCI McDowell using the drone. The three men stayed at a local motel where authorities seized marijuana, tobacco, and materials used to make camouflaged packages.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty on July 7, 2025. He is scheduled for sentencing on November 3, 2025. Gallegos pleaded guilty on August 26, 2025; his sentencing is set for December 8, 2025.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston announced the sentence and recognized investigative work by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), and McDowell County Sheriff’s Office.
Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Brian D. Parsons prosecuted the case.
"A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 1:24-cr-126."
