Dallas man pleads guilty to shooting at federal officers; faces life in prison

Specifically, Solorzano pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, two counts of assault on a federal officer and one count of using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during in relation to a crime of violence. The possession count carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison and a $1,000,000 fine. The assault on a federal officer counts each carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years and a $250,000 fine. The firearm count related to a crime of violence carries a penalty of not less than 10 years and not more than life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is set for August 7, 2017.

Co-defendant Victor Solorzano, 32, also of Dallas, is scheduled to begin trial April 10.

According to documents filed in the case, on November 19, 2015, Victor and Edgar Solorzano, cousins who lived across the street from each other, fired numerous gunshots at two federal officers with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with high-powered, semi-automatic firearms, and riddled their pickup truck with bullets as the officers fled.

Officers went to install a court-ordered tracking device on Victor Solorzano’s vehicle at his residence on Wilbur Street in Dallas, Texas. Victor was under federal investigation by HSI for trafficking methamphetamine at the time. Immediately after installing the tracking device on Victor’s vehicle, Victor, armed with a pistol, confronted the officer in the street and began firing at the officer. The officer got inside the passenger’s side of a pickup as Victor and Edgar began firing numerous gunshots at the two federal officers, who did not return fire. Victor and Edgar continued firing at the federal officers as they sped away. The officer who installed the court-ordered tracking device sustained four non­fatal bullet wounds and the pickup driven by the other officer sustained numerous bullet strikes, all from the back.

After the shooting, Edgar hid the pistol in the attic of his residence and the pistol used by Victor in a neighbor’s backyard. The police searched Edgar’s residence and found the pistol hidden in the attic. The police also found in Edgar’s bedroom more than eight grams of methamphetamine, drug distribution paraphernalia, and a variety of firearms and ammunition. The pistol used by Victor was found in the neighbor’s backyard.