A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Phoenix enforcer Carlos Zamora to 35 years in federal prison for his role in a transnational drug trafficking network that prosecutors say flooded communities with fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine. The sentence, imposed June 17, follows a jury conviction last fall and stems from months of wiretaps, raids and a violent shooting tied to the operation.
According to ABC15, 30-year-old Zamora was convicted by a jury in September 2025 and was sentenced on June 17 to 35 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised parole. ABC15 reports that prosecutors described Zamora as an "enforcer" who carried out violence on behalf of the Phoenix-based Monarrez organization.
In a press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh says the Monarrez Drug Trafficking Organization operated from August 2021 through June 2023 and imported millions of fentanyl pills, kilogram quantities of fentanyl powder, hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and dozens of kilograms of cocaine for distribution across the United States. The same release outlines the wiretap evidence and the large drug and weapons seizures that prosecutors later leaned on at trial.
Prosecutors told jurors that Zamora allegedly carried out a January 8, 2023 drive-by shooting that struck the wrong person, and that investigators later matched shell casings recovered from his home to those found at the scene. Law enforcement also recovered a firearm from Zamora’s residence and presented intercepted calls in which the shooting was discussed, according to ABC15.
How investigators built the case
Prosecutors said the investigation depended on coordinated work by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS-Criminal Investigation and local police departments. The U.S. Attorney’s Office documents a December 25, 2022 search of a Scottsdale short-term rental that recovered roughly 28 kilograms of fentanyl pills, 7.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 48 kilograms of methamphetamine, three kilograms of cocaine and 20 firearms, and a January 11, 2023 search of a Seattle apartment that turned up about 27 kilograms of fentanyl pills, multiple firearms and roughly $387,000 in cash. U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Pennsylvania
Sentences and wider probe
Zamora was one of 35 people charged in a sprawling second superseding indictment. Federal prosecutors say most defendants have either pleaded guilty or been convicted, and several co-defendants have already been sentenced. Local reporting notes that the prosecutions are part of a multi-agency enforcement push that authorities tie to the Justice Department’s Operation Take Back America initiative. FOX10 Phoenix
Legal implications
Some leaders connected to the Monarrez network face rare "kingpin" allegations under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise statute. The statute (21 U.S.C. § 848) carries minimum terms and, for principal administrators or organizers, penalties that range up to life imprisonment, and it defines a continuing criminal enterprise as a series of drug felonies committed in concert with five or more people. Cornell LII
Zamora will serve his sentence in the federal system as the broader investigation and prosecutions continue across multiple districts. Court records and federal releases show that other sentencings and pleas in the multi-state case remain pending, and authorities say the coordinated work that produced the convictions and large seizures will continue. FOX10 Phoenix
