The man who leased Rancho Los Cerritos, the Haymarket farm raided by federal agents in January, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison this week for conspiring to deal firearms without a license. Juan Francisco Enriquez Cerritos Sr., a 54-year-old Salvadoran national, was the last of eight defendants sentenced in a sprawling cocaine- and firearms-trafficking case built around the property at 4210 James Madison Highway.
Federal prosecutors say the conspiracy funneled dozens of firearms and kilos of cocaine through Rancho Los Cerritos and a shared residence in Chantilly, with sales stretching back to mid-2024. According to the Justice Department, Enriquez Cerritos's sentencing closed out the case against all eight defendants. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia led the prosecution, which authorities tied to the Homeland Security Task Force, a federal initiative established under Executive Order 14159 aimed at dismantling cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations and human-smuggling networks operating in the United States and abroad.
A Ranch Manager at the Center of It All
Court documents identify Jorge Steve Zepeda Irias, a 43-year-old Honduran national living in the country illegally, as the manager of the Haymarket ranch and, per InsideNoVa, the operation's main seller. Zepeda pleaded guilty on May 1 to four felony counts, including firearm-dealing conspiracy, cocaine distribution conspiracy, firearm possession and firearm use, carrying and brandishing in furtherance of drug trafficking, according to the Prince William Times. He was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in prison.
Zepeda admitted conspiring to sell 47 firearms — including pistols, rifles, shotguns, AK-47-style weapons, AR-15-style weapons, so-called ghost guns and at least two stolen firearms — along with more than five kilograms of cocaine, the Prince William Times reported. A separate account from WJLA put the total somewhat differently, reporting that prosecutors said the group sold more than 25 firearms and well over 1.5 kilograms of cocaine; the discrepancy between those figures was not resolved in available court reporting. During a controlled purchase on May 12, 2025, at the Chantilly residence, Zepeda fired a firearm into the ground and pointed a second weapon at another individual, according to court records described by InsideNoVa.
Rancho Los Cerritos Raided in January
Federal and local law enforcement descended on the Haymarket property on Jan. 21, 2026, a date confirmed by FauquierNow. Court filings describe controlled buys conducted over months in both Virginia and Washington, D.C., including a purchase of over a dozen firearms and four kilograms of cocaine on the day of the raid, alongside search warrants executed at multiple locations across the Washington region and Northern Virginia. The Prince William County Police Department assisted in the investigation, and the broader effort drew on a D.C.-region task force comprising agents and officers from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, ATF, DEA, the Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, NCIS, TSA Federal Air Marshals, CBP, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, and the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.
The raid also triggered an animal-welfare response. Prince William County Animal Services took custody of several hundred animals from the farm, and roughly 200 chickens were later euthanized after a health evaluation found severe problems, according to WJLA. WTOP separately reported that the raid led to the arrests of the farm's manager and owner on drug- and gun-trafficking charges.
Seven Others Already Sentenced
Zepeda's sentence was among the stiffest handed down in the case, but not the longest. Jorge Manuel Romero, a 36-year-old Beltsville, Maryland, resident who pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution conspiracy, received 12 years and seven months in prison. Damon Darnell Gray, a 36-year-old Washington resident who also pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution conspiracy, was sentenced to 10 years, and Oscar Vladimir Padilla Portillo, a 32-year-old Bowie, Maryland, resident who pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution conspiracy and firearm possession in furtherance of drug trafficking, got seven years and six months.
Oscar Raquel Cuellar Macua, a 49-year-old Salvadoran national in the country illegally who pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution conspiracy, was sentenced to five years and 10 months. Jenifer Icela Romero Fabian, a 25-year-old lawful U.S. resident from El Salvador who shared the Chantilly residence with Zepeda and pleaded guilty to firearm-dealing conspiracy and cocaine distribution conspiracy, received three years and four months. Evelyn Esmeralda Villatoro, a 32-year-old Silver Spring, Maryland, resident who pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution conspiracy, was sentenced to two years. Court records cited by InsideNoVa indicate that Zepeda, Romero Fabian, Cuellar Macua and Villatoro traveled to locations including Washington to obtain cocaine as part of the scheme, and that authorities said none of those involved in the firearms sales were licensed to deal weapons.
Timeline Questions Linger
Exactly when the undercover investigation began winding down is described differently across available court-related reporting. The Prince William Times reported the undercover investigation spanned from July 2024 to January 2026, while InsideNoVa described it as running from July 2024 into the month its own report was published. Court documents reviewed by InsideNoVa indicate that Enriquez Cerritos, Zepeda and Romero Fabian sold dozens of firearms from Rancho Los Cerritos and the Chantilly residence beginning around July 2024.
