Defendants in Two Fresno Cases of Fentanyl Trafficking and Illegal Gun Possession Plead Guilty

FRESNO, Calif. — Two defendants pleaded guilty today to charges brought in 2021 of fentanyl trafficking and illegal firearm possession, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

In the first case, Nicholas Solis, 28, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute it and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, an undercover officer ordered fentanyl pills from Solis using a Snap Chat account. Based on the messages, a search warrant was issued for Solis’s person, car, and residence. The same day, Solis posted a video of himself in his car counting a large sum of money with a firearm on his lap. Moments later, agents executed the search warrant and found fentanyl pills and the firearm from the video Solis had posted. 

In the second case Uriel Diaz-Santos, 21, of Fresno, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court documents, after two juveniles overdosed on fentanyl pills, investigators interviewed witnesses and reviewed phone records, ultimately developing enough evidence to obtain a search warrant for Diaz-Santos’s residence. On Nov. 2, 2021, investigators searched Diaz-Santos’s house and found thousands of fentanyl pills and a firearm.

These cases are the product of investigations by the Fentanyl Overdose Resolution Team, a multi‑agency team composed of Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Fresno Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin J. Gilio is prosecuting both cases.

Diaz-Santos and Solis are both scheduled to be sentenced on October 2, 2023. The defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $1 million fine for trafficking fentanyl. The firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence. The actual sentences, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn.

This case is part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.) a program designed to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas as well as identifying wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers. In July 2018, the Justice Department announced the creation of S.O.S., which is being implemented in the Eastern District of California and nine other federal districts.