Rogelio Bernal, Heroin Trafficking, Texas 2016

DEFENDANT HAD HAND IN DEADLY HERoin DEAL. A Dallas-area man has been charged with selling heroin linked to the overdose death of a young woman at a McDonald’s restaurant in Farmers Branch in June 2016.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Rogelio Bernal, 20, of Dallas, Texas, and Zakariah Michael Wolf, 29, of Greenville, Texas, were charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin in November of 2016. Bernal was separately charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin in June of 2016.

Bernal and Wolf made appearances in federal court this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver, who ordered that Bernal remain in custody pending the detention hearing set for March 20, 2017, and Wolf remain in custody pending his detention hearing set for March 22, 2017.

In a separate complaint, Steven Gomez, 18, of Dallas, Texas, was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on March 9, 2017, after having been found sharing a residence with Rogelio Bernal. Gomez made his initial appearance in federal court on March 9, 2017, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver who ordered that he remain in custody pending trial.

According to the affidavit filed with the federal complaint for Bernal and Wolf, on November 9, 2016 investigators learned that Bernal distributed heroin in the Farmers Branch, Texas, area. Bernal had been the source of supply of heroin in the area since at least April 2016, and supplied Nancy Pineda, who was previously charged in a separate complaint for her role in the conspiracy.

On November 17, 2016, Farmers Branch Police Department observed Bernal arrive at a shopping center parking lot in Dallas, Texas. Officers observed a white male get into the front passenger seat of Bernal’s vehicle. The white male was later identified as Wolf. Approximately five to ten minutes later, Wolf exited Bernal’s vehicle and Bernal departed the location.

TEXAS HERoin DEALERS CHARGED. The investigation revealed that Bernal had several text conversations with co-conspirators coordinating meetings to conduct illegal drug transactions. On November 18, 2016, a Greenville Police officer observed a green 1994 Chrysler Concord, traveling east on Templeton Street in Greenville, Texas. The vehicle was stopped after committing multiple traffic violations, and the driver was identified as Wolf. Wolf was eventually arrested and the Greenville Police Department located a safe in the vehicle containing digital scale, several small clear zip lock style baggies, a syringe, a spoon with possible heroin residue, Suboxone sublingual packs, a half pill of Alprozolam, a plastic baggie containing suspected cocaine, a plastic baggie containing suspected methamphetamine, and a plastic baggie containing suspected heroin.

According to the affidavit filed with the Gomez complaint, a federal search warrant was executed on March 9, 2017, at the residence of Bernal and Gomez. A search of Gomez’s room revealed a number of weapons, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine. Specifically, 490 gross grams of crack cocaine, 2,036 gross grams of suspected methamphetamine, and multiple firearms were located.

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