Louisville, KY – A federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky returned an indictment today charging Roberto Soto-Mora and Hector Manuel Soto-Alvarez, both of Texas, with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and possessing with the intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl.
According to the indictment, Soto-Mora, 65, and Soto-Alvarez, 25, are both charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 400 grams or more of fentanyl, possession with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and possession with the intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
They were both previously charged by criminal complaint on July 11, 2022. The complaint alleged that both men traveled together from Texas to Louisville on July 10, 2022. The defendants consented to a search of their vehicle by law enforcement officers in Louisville on that day. In their vehicle officers found 30 kilograms of suspected cocaine and one kilogram of suspected fentanyl. Both men were federally arrested on July 10th.
Soto-Mora and Soto-Alvarez are both scheduled to appear on July 21, 2022, before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky for their arraignments. If convicted, both face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of life imprisonment. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky and J. Todd Scott, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Louisville Division, made the announcement.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department, and the Jeffersontown Police Department are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac Shannon is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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