ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A former resident of Virginia has been sentenced to prison for his part in a drug-related murder in 2011, authorities said.
U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber said in a news release that Saul Pacheco Mejia, 55, was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 years in prison.
Court documents show Mejia arranged to sell cocaine to individuals in Reston, Virginia, on Dec. 12, 2011. On that date, the documents said, Mejia and two associates arrived at an apartment expecting a deal. Instead of making the buy, the intended customer tried to steal the cocaine and flee.
Mejia’s associates chased, shot, and killed the man, prosecutors said. Mejia didn' have a weapon, but knew the two other individuals did. He and the others fled to Honduras shortly after the crime.
In late 2019, Mejia was located in the U.S. and arrested in Texas.
Mejia pleaded guilty in July, to aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking conspiracy, causing death, and abetting the use of a firearm in connection with a drug conspiracy resulting in death.
