Puerto Rican Man Who Manufactured Machine Guns, Trafficked Methamphetamine and Cocaine Sentenced to 23 Years in Federal Prison

Spartanburg, S.C. — Esteban Colon Pacheco, 27, of Ponce, Puerto Rico, was sentenced to more than 23 years in federal prison after he pled guilty to possessing a machine gun in furtherance of drug trafficking, distributing methamphetamine, and conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine.

Evidence presented to the Court showed that in 2022 and 2023, Pacheco was a cocaine and methamphetamine dealer in the Upstate of South Carolina. While dealing drugs, Pacheco also conscripted women to purchase guns for him so that he could modify them into fully automatic weapons. Law enforcement learned that Pacheco sold some of the machine guns that he illicitly manufactured, and he kept at least one of the machine guns with him during his drug deals.  On one occasion, Pacheco shot the machine gun within a neighborhood to demonstrate its capabilities.

Noraimi Burgos Torres and Elizabeth Delzo Jaramillo pled guilty to charges related to purchasing firearms for Pacheco.  Delzo, who also pled guilty to drug trafficking related charges, was sentenced to 102 months in federal prison.  Torres, who pled guilty to a firearms charge on August 21, 2024, is awaiting sentencing.

United States District Judge Donald C. Coggins sentenced Esteban Pacheco to 276 months imprisonment, to be followed by a 5-year term of court-ordered supervision.

“People who sell illegal guns and drugs are a threat to the safety of our communities and must be stopped,” said United States Attorney Adair Boroughs.  “I’m proud and grateful for the collaboration of so many law enforcement partners to achieve this significant measure of justice.” 

“Putting criminal organizations like this out of business greatly reduces the flow of drugs, violence and crime into our communities, which makes everyone safer,” said Cardell T. Morant, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Charlotte that covers North and South Carolina. “HSI is a proud partner in the fight to identify, arrest and prosecute those responsible for flooding our streets with illicit drugs.” 

ATF Special Agent in Charge Bennie Mims said, “Possessing or selling firearms that have been modified to function as fully automatic weapons is a serious threat and an issue law enforcement around the country is currently dealing with. We’re proud to be a part of this collaborative effort to identify and apprehend those that threaten our community.”

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) 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. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, Greenville Police Department, Greenville County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, and Anderson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Schoen is prosecuting the case.

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