SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 22, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A felon and foreign national living in Utah was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday in Salt Lake City for alleged federal drug and gun crimes.
According to court documents, Rafael Maldonado-Solario, 46, of Salt Lake City, was under investigation by agents for allegedly distributing fentanyl in the Salt Lake Valley, says a statement issued by the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Utah.
It says that on May 9 of this year, agents seized 2,290 grams of blue pills stamped M30 at Maldonado-Solario’s apartment in Salt Lake City. The pills were field tested and confirmed to contain fentanyl. Law enforcement also seized a Taurus CCP .380 handgun inside Maldonado’s apartment. As a previously convicted felon, Maldonado-Solario is restricted from possessing a firearm.
Maldonado-Solario is charged with possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon, possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, and illegal reentry of a previously removed alien. His initial court appearance on the indictment is scheduled for May 23, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in courtroom 8.4 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
U.S. Attorney, Trina A. Higgins, of the District of Utah made the announcement.
The case is being investigated jointly by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Utah State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO).
Assistant United States Attorney Cameron P. Warner of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case.
