California man pleads guilty and is sentenced for his role in methamphetamine conspiracy

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Henry E. Autrey accepted a plea of guilty from Hector Soto on today’s date.  Judge Autrey then sentenced Soto to 10 years in federal prison.  Soto pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess, with the intent to distribute, actual methamphetamine. 

According to the plea agreement, between September 2018 and the date of the indictment, Hector Soto reached an agreement with co-defendants and at least one unindicted co-conspirator

to distribute and possess, with the intent to distribute, actual methamphetamine. 

On or about November 8, 2018, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) intercepted a suspicious package being shipped from California to a local residence. USPIS obtained a search warrant for the package, conducted a search, and determined that the package contained approximately six (6) kilograms of actual methamphetamine. USPIS arranged for a controlled delivery of the package to the residence and obtained an anticipatory search warrant for the residence.

A co-defendant of Soto accepted delivery of the package into the residence.  Upon the package being accepted a search of the residence was conducted, during which time nothing further was located. The palm print of a co­ defendant was located on the outside of the package. Hector Soto’s fingerprints were located on the inside of the packaging material that contained the methamphetamine.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service.