The owner of a Houston-based Chicago-style pizzeria is expected to plead guilty in connection with a drug trafficking and money laundering case, according to court records.
Court records show DeAllen Jerome Nettles, along with several others, is expected to plead guilty to charges related to a nearly 30-person drug trafficking and money laundering scheme.
Nettles, along with Santiago Villalobos III, Juan Alberto Villalobos, Michael Graves, Christopher Ham, Juan Manuel Fonseca, Monica Fonseca, Rudis Edgardo Zelaya, Ruby Guzman, Liang Guo Yu, Jonathan Xie, Michael Tovar, Virgil Lee Castillo, Eric Jason Gomez, Eric Carillo, Romulo Chapa, and Maria E. Garcia, all agreed to plead guilty to their respective charges.
In addition to the aforementioned co-defendants, five defendants in the above case have already been sentenced in connection with a similar case and will be pleading guilty to the charges in this case; Reyes Hernandez III, who was sentenced to 50 months in Aug. 2019, Esteban Solomon, who was sentenced to a 108-month prison sentence in September. 2019, Daniel Mayorquin Carillo, who was sentenced to a 51-month prison sentence in Nov. 2019, and Jorge Luis Gonzalez-Sarabia Jr., who was sentenced to a 120-month prison sentence earlier this week on Feb. 23, records show.
The indictment alleges in part that Nettles, 33, of Houston, and at least more than 20 others — the majority of whom have their names redacted in the court record partially unsealed June 13 2018 — conspired to distribute more than 5 kilos of cocaine for more than six years, beginning in May 2012 to the date of the filing, June 2018.
A Chicago native, Nettles made his initial appearance in a Houston federal courtroom back in June 2018 and was released on a $10,000 bond. His social media profiles states he is the owner of a Houston-based business called ChItalian Pizzeria.
Nettles is also accused of two money laundering charges, one alleged incident occurred in November 2012, the other Dec. 29, 2015, the court documents state.
The second money laundering charge gives more detail, showing Nettles allegedly moved more than $300,000 to Mexico from Chicago “with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity that is the distribution of a controlled substance,” according to court documents.
In total, the feds are looking to seize more than $150,000 in property, and more than $7 million in U.S. currency as part of the case against the multiple defendants, court records show.
A sentencing hearing date was not available as of this posting.
