A member of the Jalisco New Generacion Cartel (CJNG) has been sentenced to life in federal prison for fentanyl trafficking and money laundering, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala handed down the life sentence to Juan Francisco Castaneda, also known as “Pariente,” age 44. In October 2025, after two days of trial testimony, Castaneda pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic fentanyl, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and distribution of fentanyl. The crimes took place in the Birmingham and Homewood areas.
Evidence presented at trial and through Castaneda’s guilty plea showed that he managed his drug trafficking and money laundering operations using contraband phones while serving multiple life sentences for murder at Bullock Correctional Facility under the Alabama Department of Corrections. Castaneda used a network of couriers and local businesses as fronts for distributing fentanyl and collecting drug proceeds. Undercover operations found that he laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars to CJNG sources in Mexico through these channels.
Court documents indicate that Castaneda previously pleaded guilty to a 2008 homicide in Shelby County involving five victims killed over a cartel debt. During sentencing, evidence was presented that Castaneda threatened co-defendants with death during the investigation and claimed he would “feed them to the dogs.” He was found responsible for moving more than 19 kilograms of fentanyl throughout the district during the period under investigation. As part of his sentencing, a $700,000 money judgment was entered against him.
The case was investigated by multiple agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service, United States Marshals Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, Hoover Police Department, Birmingham Police Department, Bessemer Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Alabama Department of Corrections, and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Allison Garnett and Carson Gilbert prosecuted the case.
According to the press release: "This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States."
The Alabama HSTF includes agents from several federal agencies with prosecution led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.
