Lorenzo Antonio Santillan-Solis, a 28-year-old resident of Phoenix, Arizona, has been sentenced to over eight years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. U.S. District Court Judge Kelly H. Rankin delivered the sentence on January 9 in Cheyenne, which includes 100 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release.
Court documents reveal that law enforcement became aware of narcotics originating from the Phoenix area being sold from an address in Powell, Wyoming, as early as November 2022. This address was linked to an individual identified as a known co-conspirator of Santillan-Solis. On March 15, 2023, the United States Postal Inspection Service intercepted a parcel sent to this Powell address in Casper. A search warrant allowed law enforcement to discover approximately 10,000 fentanyl pills weighing over one kilogram and more than one pound of methamphetamine inside the package. The same day, the known co-conspirator contacted the post office regarding the package. Investigators were able to trace correspondence and fingerprints back to Santillan-Solis.
Following these events, Santillan-Solis was indicted on May 16, 2024. He was subsequently arrested on May 20 in Phoenix and made his initial court appearance on June 28 before U.S. Magistrate Judge R. Michael Shickich in Casper. On October 18, 2024, Santillan-Solis pleaded guilty to the charges.
The investigation into this case was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie Morrison led the prosecution.
Case No: 24-CR-00068