Chicago Man Sentenced For His Role In West Virginia Smuggling Operation
Friday, September 12, 2025, 7:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
BLUEFIELD, W.VA.- A 23-year-old Chicago, Illinois, man will be spending the next three years on federal probation after being sentenced on Monday for his role in a failed smuggling scheme that would have utilized a drone to fly contraband into a West Virginia Federal Prison.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston, on Monday, September 8, 2025, Miguel Angel Aleman-Piceno, 23, of Chicago, Illinois, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Court Judge David A. Faber to three years of federal probation, after pleading guilty to Conspiracy of Attempting to Introduce Contraband into a Federal Prison.
According To The Charging Documents Filed With The Court
According to the charging documents filed with the District Court, on February 1, 2024, Aleman-Piceno traveled on foot with co-defendant Francisco Alejandro Gonzalez to the fence-line surrounding the Federal Correctional Institution, FCI McDowell, located in Welch, West Virginia.
At that time, Aleman-Piceno and Gonzalez possessed a backpack and a duffel bag containing a drone and two camouflaged packages containing four cellular phones, chargers, phone cards, marijuana, and tobacco. During his previous plea allocution, Aleman-Piceno admitted that they intended to fly the packages onto the grounds of FCI McDowell using the drone and that the two were stopped by Corrections Officers as they were prepared to launch the drone.
Aleman-Piceno further admitted to traveling to McDowell County, West Virginia, from Chicago, Illinois, with Gonzalez and another co-defendant, Arturo Joel Gallegos, believing that he was going to receive $3,000 to deliver the packages into the prison via the drone. Aleman-Piceno additionally admitted that he and his two co-defendants stayed at an area motel, where, after getting arrested, law enforcement Officers located and seized additional quantities of marijuana, tobacco, and materials used to make the camouflaged packages.
Aleman-Piceno’s Co-Defendants Plead Guilt And Awaiting Sentencing
Gonzalez, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, pleaded guilty on July 7, 2025, for his role in the smuggling scheme and has been scheduled to be sentenced on November 3, 2025. Gallegos, 26, also of Chicago, Illinois, pleaded guilty on August 26, 2025, for his role and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 8, 2025.
Acting U.S. Attorney Johnston commended the investigative work of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which led to the successful prosecution of Aleman-Piceno.
