Three defendants were sentenced last week to a combined 35 years in federal prison for their roles in the fentanyl conspiracy that claimed the lives of three teenagers in Flower Mound and Carrollton, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
Jason Xavier Villanueva, 23, Robert Alexander Gaitan, 20, and Rafael Soliz Jr., 23, were indicted in a superseding indictment in March 2023, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
In court documents, Villanueva admitted he distributed more than 200,000 fentanyl pills to north Texas customers over the course of five or six months, at a rate of about 40,000 pills per month. He sold the pills – round blue tablets marked M-30 – to a network of juvenile and adult dealers, including Gaitan and Soliz, who went on to sell to friends, classmates, and other customers in Carrollton. He often advertised on Instagram and following the arrest of one of his codefendants in February 2023 posted, “Only thing that’s gonna stop us is feds.” Villanueva was identified during the investigation as being one of the primary sources of counterfeit M30 pills.
In June 2023, Villanueva and Soliz pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl to a person under 21. In July 2023, Gaitan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. On Jan. 11, 2024, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade sentenced Villanueva to 15 years in federal prison; Gaitan to 5 years in federal prison; and Soliz to 15 years in federal prison, according to the news release.
“Precious children in our north Texas community died—and more overdosed and almost died—as a direct result of these defendants’ actions, and I am proud of my dedicated prosecutors for working tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to bring these men to justice,” Simonton said in a statement. “We will not stop until every dealer or trafficker knows that we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law if you distribute the deadly drug of fentanyl.”
At the Jan. 11 hearing, prosecutors discussed the overdose of several children ages 13 – 17 years of age, including two middle school and one high school student who died after taking the fentanyl pills. The defendants knew the ages of the students they were selling to and knew the pills they were selling contained fentanyl.
“I was at today’s sentencing and heard statements from both the defendant’s and the victim’s family and friends. Nobody won today. This is what drug trafficking and abuse does. Lives have been destroyed and tragically some we will never get back,” said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Eduardo A. Chávez. “The men and women of the DEA Dallas will continue to relentlessly pursue those who distribute illicit fentanyl, while equally supporting and standing firm with those family members and friends affected by the grip of illicit substance abuse.”
Ten individuals have been charged in the drug conspiracy and are tied to at least 12 juvenile overdoses – three of them fatal – in Carrollton and Flower Mound.
“Justice was served today in these cases,” said Carrollton Police Department Chief Roberto Arredondo. “This national crisis is a priority for us; we will not rest until we have rid our great community of this poison, and those responsible for preying upon our citizens are behind bars.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Office and the Carrollton Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of School Resource Officers from the Carrollton – Farmer’s Branch Independent School District and the Lewisville Independent School District. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rick Calvert and Phelesa Guy are prosecuting the case.
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