A high-ranking member of the notorious MS-13 gang has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in a large-scale methamphetamine distribution network that spanned the United States and Mexico.
Amilcar Romero, a/k/a “Soldado,” a 52-year-old MS-13 member, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick to 13 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Romero’s sentence will run consecutively to a prior sentence for attempted murder imposed in California state court in 1997 and another prior sentence for conspiring to participate in the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, namely MS-13, imposed in the District of New Jersey in 2016.
According to prosecutors, Romero was a high-ranking member of the table of the “L.A. Program” of MS-13 and participated in the transnational and nationwide affairs of the gang through a contraband prison cellphone while he was incarcerated in Calipatria State Prison in California in 2019.
In the summer and fall of 2019, Romero helped plan, with other high-ranking members of MS-13, for the establishment of a methamphetamine distribution network that started in Mexico and operated throughout the United States, including North Carolina, New York, Virginia, and Tennessee.
Romero was arrested and charged in 2022 and subsequently pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He was sentenced on February 27, 2023.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams praised the investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department in bringing Romero to justice.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Broderick sentenced Romero to three years of supervised release.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent & Organized Crime Unit, with Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Longyear, Justin V. Rodriguez, and Jacob Warren in charge of the prosecution.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation, which uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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