Homeland Security Task Force Investigation Leads to Lengthy Prison Sentences for Two Mexican Nationals Convicted of Drug Trafficking

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced that a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) investigation has resulted in lengthy prison sentences for two Mexican nationals for trafficking illicit drugs into Charlotte and elsewhere. During the investigation, law enforcement determined that the defendants were members of a drug trafficking organization with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. Leonardo Sandoval-Ocampo, 26, of Mexico, who is illegally present in the United States, was sentenced to 150 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine, and distribution of methamphetamine. Gerardo Agustin Salinas-Isais, 43, who was a non-citizen legally residing in the United States, was sentenced to 135 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine. Both defendants will also be removed from the United States after they complete their respective prison sentences. “We talk about cartels all the time – this case is an example of how real the threat is,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. “This case shows that cartels like Sinaloa are in our communities. The Homeland Security Task Force is dedicated to the complete elimination of cartels like Sinaloa, and this case is an important step in achieving that goal. These defendants will now spend more than a decade in federal prison and then be removed from the country.” According to filed documents and court proceedings, from November 2022 through May 2023, Sandoval-Ocampo and Salinas-Isais were members of Mexico-based drug trafficking organization. During that time, Sandoval-Ocampo was a drug distributor for the organization, responsible for delivering multi-kilogram quantities of illicit drugs, including methamphetamine, for further distribution locally. Over the course of the investigation, Sandoval-Ocampo made or coordinated multiple drug deliveries to investigators working in an undercover capacity. Upon his arrest, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Sandoval-Ocampo’s residence in Lexington, N.C., where they seized methamphetamine, marijuana, and firearms, including a rifle and two semi-automatic pistols. The residence of an individual Sandoval-Ocampo directed to make deliveries was also searched, resulting in the seizure of 1.8 kilograms of pills pressed with fentanyl. Based on his part in the conspiracy, Sandoval-Ocampo was held accountable for more than four kilograms of methamphetamine. Salinas-Isais worked for the organization as a local distributor. In April 2023, Salinas-Isais distributed approximately 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine to an undercover agent. In May 2023, law enforcement stopped Salinas-Isais’s vehicle while he was traveling from Atlanta into Western North Carolina. Law enforcement searched the vehicle and found a bag containing nearly a kilogram of methamphetamine and 355 grams of cocaine that Salinas-Isais possessed with the intent to distribute to others. Sandoval-Ocampo and Salinas-Isais will remain in federal custody until they are transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. This was an investigation led by the HSTF. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick J. Miller of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case. Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) is an initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full sp