Texarkana inmate sentenced to 7 additional years for trafficking drugs inside prison

TEXARKANA, Texas ( KETK ) — A Texarkana inmate has been sentenced to seven additional years for trafficking drugs inside a prison.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Texas, Verlan Perez Jr., 36 of Dallas, was sentenced to 87 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and buprenorphine.

“In March 2021, mail staff at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Texarkana intercepted two incoming packages addressed to federal inmate, Verlan Perez, Jr. The packages contained buprenorphine, a controlled substance,” federal prosecutors said.

Evidence presented in court also showed that Perez had been conspiring with Rosa Solano-Olivares to have her deliver methamphetamine into the prison. On Oct. 2021, Solano-Olivares entered the Federal Correctional Institution Texarkana to visit Perez.

“After she entered and exited the women’s restroom in the visitation area, prison staff conducted a search of the restroom and located a package of methamphetamine rolled in black electrical tape, a baggie of marijuana, and rolling papers,” prosecutors said.

The attorney’s office said Perez was responsible for distributing 43 grams of methamphetamine in FCI Texarkana.

Perez will serve his new sentence consecutively to his current federal sentence of 13 years for drug trafficking in 2019. Solano-Olivares was also sentenced to roughly two years in federal prison for her role.

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