SerpApi.Org
Four Wichitans have each pleaded guilty to a felony crime after a federal agent was sold fentanyl, cocaine and pipe bombs in an undercover 2024 operation.
Adam Garcia, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy for his role in selling the illegal drugs and three explosive devices to an undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, once in March and twice in April 2024, court documents and a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas said.
The first transaction happened at 41st and Arkansas in Wichita in mid-March 2024, according to federal court documents, and involved the sale of 4 ounces, or about 111.69 grams, of cocaine for $1,100 per ounce. The undercover agent and an informant met with an associate of Garcia’s because Garcia said he was out of town, according to a plea agreement filed in the case.
A second set of drug purchases was scheduled on April 1, 2024, where 108.44 grams of fentanyl and 11.99 grams of cocaine were sold by Garcia to the undercover agent and the informant. The purchase totaled $4,500.
The third and final sale included the purchase of three pipe bombs, 1,000 fentanyl pills and 2 ounces of cocaine for $5,400. Garcia was accompanied during this sale by 27-year-old Anthony Dennis, also from Wichita.
In total, 316.05 grams of fentanyl, 67.59 grams of cocaine and three pipe bombs were sold to the agent either directly from Garcia or from a co-conspirator acting under Garcia’s direction, the office said.
After pleading guilty, Garcia was sentenced to serve 10-and-a-half years. Dennis also pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy, and was sentenced in March to three years and 10 months in prison.
A 42-year-old Wichita man, Jonathan Peacock, was sentenced to a year-and-a-half in prison after pleading guilty to making an explosive device, the office said.
Paola Sosa-Rios, who is a Mexican national but is living in Wichita, pleaded guilty to one count of using a communication facility to facilitate a drug transaction, federal court records show, and is awaiting sentencing.
“Selling narcotics is pretty bad by itself but in combination with pipe bombs, this kind of criminal behavior could easily turn deadly,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Kriegshauser said. “Had these explosive devices ended up in the wrong hands and been detonated against law enforcement or civilians, it could have been a disaster.”
