DEA Caribbean Division Highlights Three Guilty Pleas and Two Sentences in HSTF Prosecutions
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Caribbean Division joins the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico and its Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) partners in announcing three guilty pleas and two sentences in federal cases during the week of October 26–30, 2026.
The results include a 70-month federal prison sentence for drug trafficking and a guilty plea for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The cases also resulted in two guilty pleas involving evidence tampering and a probation sentence in a drug distribution conspiracy.
Guilty Pleas
On October 27, Jackson L. Nieves-Mercado pleaded guilty to possessing controlled substances with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in Criminal Case No. 26-236 (MAJ). He was arrested on May 30, 2026, and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27, 2027.
On October 28, siblings Alvin Lara-Martínez and Alder Lara-Martínez pleaded guilty to evidence tampering under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(1) in Criminal Case No. 25-424 (MAJ). The indictment charged them with conspiracy to destroy, alter, or conceal evidence. Both were arrested on November 10, 2025, and are scheduled to be sentenced on February 2, 2027.
Sentences
On October 29, U.S. District Judge Silvia Carreño-Coll sentenced Estefanny D. Parra-Rosa to one year of probation for conspiracy to possess controlled substances with intent to distribute. Parra-Rosa was indicted on June 10, 2025, and pleaded guilty on July 29, 2026, in Criminal Case No. 25-272 (SCC).
On October 30, Chief U.S. District Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach sentenced Johan Tirado-Agueda to 70 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for drug trafficking offenses. Tirado-Agueda was originally indicted on March 30, 2023. A superseding indictment was filed on December 4, 2025, and he pleaded guilty on February 24, 2026, in Criminal Case No. 23-125 (RAM).
These prosecutions are part of the HSTF initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. Through HSTF San Juan, the DEA Caribbean Division works with federal prosecutors and federal, territorial, and municipal law enforcement partners to investigate drug trafficking and related firearms offenses, share intelligence, and coordinate enforcement across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
