MD Man Pleads Guilty In 2011 Drug-Related Homicide Case In Reston

RESTON, VA — A Maryland man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday for his role in a Reston homicide case from 2011, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release.

Saul Pacheco Mejia, 55, of Beltsville, Maryland said he had set up a meeting for Dec. 12, 2011, in order to sell cocaine, according to court documents. Mejia and two associates arrived early on that date to a Reston apartment, which was where the drug sale was set to take place.

Rather than buying the cocaine, the intended customer tried to steal it instead. One of Mejia's associates chased the customer, and then shot and killed him. Although Mejia did not have a firearm, both of his associates did. Soon after the incident, all three fled to Honduras. In 2019, law enforcement officers located Mejias in the United States and he was arrested in Texas.

On Thursday, Mejias pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom in Alexandria to two similar crimes, according to court documents. The first guilty plea was for aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking conspiracy and causing a death. Mejias' second guilty plea was for aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in connection with a drug conspiracy resulting in death.

Mejia is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Nov. 10. As part of Thursday's plea agreement, all parties agreed that Meija would not receive a sentence greater than 25 years in prison, according to court documents.