Houston man sentenced to 120 months for drug trafficking in Ascension, East Baton Rouge parishes

United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe Jr. announced that 28-year-old Aron Winter Mosquera-Castro of Houston was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison following his convictions for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute heroin, unlawful travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise, and unlawful use of a communications facility. 

According to a news release, the court further sentenced him to serve five years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment.

On June 23, 2021, following a three-day trial, a jury found Mosquera-Castro guilty of the charges connected to his role in a drug distribution ring obtaining heroin from Houston and operating in East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes.

Mosquera-Castro acted as an interpreter for the source of the heroin, negotiated prices with the locals receiving the heroin, and then transported it from Houston to Ascension Parish for further distribution. 

Mosquera-Castro is the 18th and final member of the drug trafficking organization to be convicted in this matter.

This operation was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Louisiana State Police, Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office, West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, Gonzales Police Department, and Baton Rouge Police Department. This matter was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Piedrahita, Jennifer Kleinpeter and William Morris.

The prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.