BUFFALO, N.Y. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - New York, Western), published as received.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Fidel Beltran-Torres, 50, of Inglewood, CA, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a fine of $10,000,000.
Between March 23 and April 4, 2025, Beltran-Torres, who resided in California, had an arrangement with two individuals in Buffalo, Brian Smith and Dawnte Dooling, to send controlled substances, including fentanyl, to addresses in Buffalo that were provided by Smith. The drugs were then sold in the Buffalo area. On March 23, 2025, Beltran-Torres received a text message from Smith telling him to send two kilograms of narcotics to the home address of Dooling. On April 4, 2025, Dooling was observed leaving his residence with a large box and traveling to the corner of Allen Street and Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, where he turned the box over to Smith. Law enforcement seized the box, which contained approximately two kilograms of fentanyl shipped by Beltran-Torres from California. In addition, between approximately January 2024 and April 2025, Beltran-Torres shipped approximately 15 kilograms of cocaine while working with Smith and Dooling.
This investigation was part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Buffalo comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, ATF, IRS Criminal Investigations, Department of Homeland Security Emergency Removal Operations, Customs and Border Protection, the DEA, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt I. Kass. The plea is the culmination of an investigation by the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Allen D. Davis, II and the DEA, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Farhana Islam, New York Field Division.
Sentencing is scheduled February 12, 2027, before Judge Sinatra.
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