Three New York Men Sentenced in Heroin Trafficking Conspiracy
Conspiracy Leader Sentenced to 10 Years

DAYTON—Juan Solano, age 43, Carlos Solano, age 36, and Carlos Tapia, age 28, all of New York City, were sentenced individually in United States District Court here today for their roles in a conspiracy that brought over one kilogram of heroin to the Miami Valley between August, 2007 and October, 2008.

Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Bruce May, Director of the Greene County A.C.E. Drug Task Force, announced the sentences handed down by U.S. District Judge Walter Rice.

Juan Solano was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment, Carlos Tapia to 24 months, and Carlos Solano to 36 months. As part of the sentence, a 2005 Audi Quattro A6 belonging to Carlos Solano was forfeited. All three men will serve a 5 year period of supervised release, a form of parole, upon their release from prison.

The Solano brothers and Tapia pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin. According the statement of facts filed in court, the three were involved in interstate trafficking of at least 1 kilogram of a mixture or substance containing heroin from New York into the Dayton area, the street value of which exceeded $1 million, according to the Greene County Task Force.

The investigation revealed that Juan Solano had developed a relationship with a Dayton-area man to distribute heroin into the Miami Valley. In carrying out the conspiracy, Juan Solano obtained heroin from sources of supply in New York City, and then arranged the delivery of heroin to the Dayton-area co-conspirator throughout 2008. Juan Solano enlisted Carlos Tapia to drive the heroin shipments to Ohio on multiple occasions, including two deliveries during the summer of 2008. After the heroin was sold, cash was sent back to Juan Solano from the Dayton-area co-conspirator as payment for the drugs. Carlos Solano picked up drug proceeds from the Dayton-area co-conspirator on at least two occasions at a shopping center parking lot in West Virginia, using his 2005 Audi Quattro on the final occasion.

After FBI agents and A.C.E. Task Force detectives served a search warrant on the home of the Dayton co-conspirator and recovered evidence of the drug trafficking, the investigation ultimately led to the arrest of the three New York men in early October, 2008.

Lockhart commended the cooperative investigation by the FBI agents and Greene County A.C.E. detectives, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Hunt, who prosecuted the case.