FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment today against Jesus Valdez Castaneda, 28, of San Bernardino, California, Carlos German Fierro, 29, of Caruthers, California, and Alejandro Soto Mares, 43, of Mexico, charging them with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, Acting United States Attorney Michele Beckwith announced. 

According to court documents, the defendants conspired with other individuals to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 400 grams of fentanyl. The men arranged to sell 150,000 fentanyl pills in a strip mall parking lot in Madera on Feb. 21, 2025. Castaneda and Soto Mares arrived first and met with a co-conspirator who had agreed to buy the pills. After agreeing on price, Fierro and two other co-conspirators arrived with the pills in a second car. 

Before completing the deal, the men went into a nearby Panda Express restaurant to order food. Nearby officers then converged on the men and arrested them. Officers seized 150,000 pills and two firearms.

This case was the product of an investigation by the High Impact Investigation Team (“HIIT”), which comprised personnel from the California Department of Justice, Fresno Police Department, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Madera County Sheriff’s Office, Kings County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Arin C. Heinz and Cody S. Chapple are prosecuting the case.

All defendants were detained and are in custody awaiting trial. If convicted, each defendant faces a minimum statutory penalty of 10 years, a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison, and a $10,000,000 fine for the drug charge. Defendant Fierro faces an additional minimum statutory penalty of five years for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Any sentence, however, would 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. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.