Honduran National Sentenced for Maintaining a Stash House for a District Cocaine Trafficker

WASHINGTON - Rodger Bonilla Vargas, 39, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 32 months in prison for maintaining a stash house for a cocaine trafficker, facilitating the distribution of large quantities of cocaine throughout the District of Columbia and Maryland.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division, Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) - Washington, D.C., and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Bonilla Vargas, aka "Paki," pleaded guilty to involvement in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. As part of the plea agreement, Bonilla Vargas - who is a Honduran national and is in the U.S. unlawfully - admitted he was accountable for conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. In addition to the 32-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge ordered Bonilla Vargas to serve three years of supervised release. He is also facing deportation proceedings upon completion of his prison sentence.

According to court documents, beginning in March 2023 and continuing until August 2023, Bonilla Vargas' co-conspirators -- Jorge Cruz Maldonado, Vladimir Roque Ceron, Francisco Rosales Diaz, Cila Melgar Rodriguez, and others -- conspired to sell approximately 771 grams of cocaine and 11.62 grams of fentanyl (111 pills) to a DEA confidential source. On multiple occasions between March 2023 and August 2023, in the District of Columbia, Bonilla Vargas agreed to store significant quantities of controlled substances, including cocaine, at his residence on behalf of one of his co-conspirators. Bonilla Vargas was aware that the substances he was storing were illegal controlled substances, and that Melgar Rodriguez intended to distribute these controlled substances.

Specifically, on August 18, 2023, Bonilla Vargas knowingly stored cocaine weighing approximately 3.6 kilograms at his residence in service of Melgar Rodriguez's drug trafficking operation. When Melgar Rodriguez arrived at the Bonilla Vargas residence to retrieve the cocaine, Bonilla Vargas provided the package to Melgar Rodriguez so that Melgar Rodriguez could give the narcotics to Cruz Maldonado and others to sell to the confidential source.

Prior to his involvement in the narcotics conspiracy, Bonilla Vargas was arrested on November 30, 2023, by ICE in Chantilly, Va., on a charge of alien present without admission. He currently is under removal proceedings.

Two of Bonilla-Vargas's co-conspirators have been sentenced as part of this case. Vladimir Roque Cerone pleaded guilty on March 5, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine and was sentenced on July 11, 2024, to 14 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Erik Rivera Garcia pleaded guilty on March 13, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. Rivera Garcia was sentenced Wednesday to 62 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release.

This case was investigated and prosecuted under the auspices of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section (VRTO). The VRTO's mission is to disrupt and dismantle the District's most serious drivers of violence and large-scale firearms and drug trafficking. VRTO places an emphasis on proactive, intelligence-driven, long- and medium-term criminal investigations, and its prosecutions focus on violent and armed crews and conspiracies, collective conduct, and repeat offenders.

This case was investigated by the DEA, FBI, HSI, and ICE. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ernesto J. Alvarado, Timothy J. Coley, and Adam Stempel.

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