Dallas man sentenced to more than 47 years in federal prison for 2015 armed assault on federal officers

DALLAS — A Dallas man was sentenced Thursday to more than 47 years in federal prison for the November 2015 armed assault on two federal law enforcement officers in southwest Dallas, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the Dallas Police Department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

In April 2017, following a four-day trial, Victor Manuel Solorzano, 32, of Dallas, was convicted of the following charges:  one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; two counts of assault of a federal officer; and two counts of using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.  Solorzano has been in custody since his arrest in August 2016.  On Nov. 2, 2017, U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay sentenced him to 567 months in prison.

“This shocking example of cold-blooded violence in our neighborhoods and against our law enforcement officers is exactly why we will never stop fighting the fight,” said USA Parker.  Those who traffic in drugs bring nothing but misery and death to our communities and they must be stopped.”

Co-defendant Edgar Solorzano, 24, pleaded guilty in April 2017 to the following charges:  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. His sentencing is set for Nov. 20.

According to evidence presented at trial, on Nov. 19, 2015, Victor and Edgar Solorzano, cousins who lived across the street from each other, fired numerous gunshots with high-powered, semi-automatic firearms, at two federal officers with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and riddled their pickup truck with bullets as the officers fled for their lives.

The HSI officers were installing 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 high-powered AR-15 pistol, confronted the officer in the street and began firing at the officer, striking him in the hand and foot.  Edgar, meanwhile, was armed with a high-powered AK-47 pistol.  The officer ran for his life as Victor and Edgar fired at him.  The officer then 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 non-fatal bullet wounds; the pickup driven by the other officer sustained numerous bullet strikes, all from the back.  Miraculously, the officers were not severely injured or killed.  In total, the Solorzano cousins fired at least 42 gunshots at the federal officers on a residential street.  Their turbulent gunfire even struck other vehicles and a home situated on the street.

After the shooting, Edgar hid the AK-47 pistol in the attic of his residence, and hid the AR-15 pistol used by Victor in a neighbor’s backyard.  Police searched Edgar’s residence and found the pistol hidden in the attic.  Police also found in Edgar’s bedroom more than eight grams of methamphetamine, drug-distribution paraphernalia, and a variety of firearms and ammunition. Police later found the pistol used by Victor in the neighbor’s backyard.  Police also searched Victor’s residence and found a gallon-sized Ziploc bag containing methamphetamine residue in his closet.  A narcotics detective estimated that the bag had contained about one to two pounds of the drug.  The police also found in Victor’s residence drug-cash and a variety of firearms and ammunition.

Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Tromblay and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Kull and Rachael Jones, Northern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.