A 32-year-old Wichita man will spend 19 years in federal prison for leading a Sinaloa Cartel drug trafficking ring that funneled fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine into the city.
Euriel Talavera pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced to 228 months, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas. Prosecutors identified Talavera as the operation's ringleader, saying he "stayed in regular contact with cartel members in Mexico."
In all, 15 defendants pleaded guilty in the case, first reported by the Wichita Eagle. One defendant, Richard Oral Mathie, 60, of Elmendorf, Texas, remains at large after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. He has not been sentenced.
The investigation began in December 2022 after the DEA, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Wichita Police Department learned of a potential deal involving 160,000 counterfeit Percocet pills laced with fentanyl, according to court documents. The network moved drugs from Phoenix and other locations to Wichita for distribution every few weeks.
"… When investigators learned about an arrangement to bring 160,000 counterfeit Percocet pills laced with fentanyl to Wichita for distribution, law enforcement set up surveillance, observed the exchange, and after a traffic stop, intercepted the drugs," U.S. Attorney Ryan Kriegshauser said in the U.S. Attorney's Office news release.
Sentences ranged from probation to 19 years
Fourteen co-defendants also pleaded guilty. Those sentenced to prison include:
- Jonathan Gutierrez-Diaz, 30, just over 11 years for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
- Joe Louis Washington, 33, of Wichita, 10 years for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine
- Aron Garcia-Campa, 36, of Wichita, eight years for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine
- Alexis Ortega-Ramos, 29, six years for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
- Shelan D. Peters, 24, of Wichita, five years for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
- Jermel L. Goines, 44, of Wichita, five years for the same firearm charge
- Breili Osmani Sermeno-Hernandez, 42, four years for use of a communication facility to facilitate drug trafficking
- Heiu Kevin Nguyen, 33, of Wichita, two years for the same communication charge
- Katia Nevarez, 29, of Wichita, one year and one day for money laundering
Four Wichita defendants received probation: Santiago Rodriguez, 25; Angel Garcia, 26; Dominitrix M. Jones, 33; and Alonso Pacheco-Tabullo, 23. All pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
Case dates to 2022 investigation
All defendants were indicted in 2024 under President Joe Biden's administration. Two were arrested in 2025. The U.S. Attorney's Office said the operation fell under the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative, established by President Donald Trump's Jan. 20, 2025, Executive Order 14159.
Mathie is the only defendant who has not been sentenced. No information about his current whereabouts was included in the announcement.
