Thirty-Eight Defendants Charged Following Investigations by the Nashville Homeland Security Task Force

NASHVILLE – Thirty-eight defendants – including eight members and associates of MS-13 – have been charged on a variety of charges involving trafficking in fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine, carjacking, assault on law enforcement, use of firearms during the commission of a violent crime, unlawful possession of firearms, and immigration offenses, announced Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire for the Middle District of Tennessee.

These prosecutions are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) 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 spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

The Nashville HSTF comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), United States Marshals Service (USMS), United States Secret Service (USSS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and other federal agencies, working in collaboration with our state and local partners, with the prosecutions being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.

“These efforts illustrate law enforcement’s commitment to stop gang violence, combat the scourge of fentanyl overdoses here in Middle Tennessee, and hold offenders accountable for the havoc they have wreaked on our community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney McGuire. “Working together as part of the Homeland Security Task Force, these agencies have made our communities throughout Middle Tennessee safer and stronger.”

In United States vs. Rodriguez and United States v. Mendoza, Victor Alfonso Paez Rodriguez and Jesus Mendoza Viera, both of whom are illegally present in the United States, are alleged to have trafficked large quantities of fentanyl from Mexico into middle Tennessee. HSI was the lead investigative agency with assistance from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD).

In United States v. Copeland, Trenell Copeland, Tabria Bowens, Cassandra Lawson, Alicia Barman, and Ashanti Williams are charged with offenses related to the trafficking of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and marijuana into the Trousdale County Correctional Facility where Trenell Copeland was serving a state sentence. The lead investigative agency was the FBI with assistance from the Tennessee Department of Corrections Office of Investigations and Conduct (TDOC-OIC).

In United States v. Bangeas, Debyi Bangeas – an MS-13 member who is illegally present in the United States– was charged with carjacking, use of a firearm during that carjacking, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The lead federal agencies were ATF and HSI in collaboration with MNPD.

In United States v. Contreras Arita, two MS-13 members, Kevin Jasir Contreras Arita, Jose Pena, and MS-13 associate David Dubon-Enamarado, were charged with drug trafficking, assault on a federal law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, and illegal re-entry into the United States. The lead federal agencies were HSI and ATF in collaboration with MNPD.

In United States v. Leonel Vargas, MS-13 member Leonel Vargas, who is illegally present in the United States, was charged with drug trafficking cocaine and marijuana, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug-trafficking, and being an illegal alien unlawfully in possession of a firearm. The lead federal agencies were ATF and HSI in collaboration with MNPD.

In United States v. Anthony Vargas, MS-13 associate Anthony Vargas, who is illegally present in the United States, was charged with being an illegal alien unlawfully in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, Vargas was caught with a stolen firearm which has ballistic associations to the homicide of a fourteen-year-old girl. The lead federal agencies were ATF and HSI in collaboration with MNPD.

In United States v. Sandoval, thirteen defendants, including one MS-13 member and one MS-13 associate, were charged as part of a methamphetamine and cocaine distribution conspiracy resulting from a months’-long investigation. The lead agencies were the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (Army CID) and DEA with assistance from ATF, HSI, FBI, USMS, USSS, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), MNPD, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP).

In United States v. Toliver, twelve defendants were charged with trafficking in fentanyl sourced from outside the United States as well as multiple federal firearms charges. Crossville has experienced a spike in the number of overdose deaths linked to fentanyl. Some of those overdoses are alleged to be connected to the trafficking activities of these defendants. The lead agencies were the FBI, TBI, and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from HSI, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and THP.

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katy Risinger, Joshua Kurtzman and Emily Petro. AUSA Risinger is the Lead HSTF Attorney for the Nashville Homeland Security Task Force.

An indictment or a complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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