Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
The Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy E. Larson announces that on Wednesday and Thursday last week, 18 defendants pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton to federal offenses resulting from a June 2025 initiative called “Operation Showdown,” designed to reduce violent crime in Fort Worth, Texas. These defendants join eight others who previously pled guilty in late July and early August 2025. The charges include assaults on federal agents, and the unlawful possession and trafficking of firearms and illegal drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl.
Operation Showdown’s multi-agency initiative spanned only two months but led to federal arrests of 56 defendants and another 20 state arrests in Tarrant County, Texas. The potential sentences of those that pled guilty thus far range from 10 years to 40 years in federal prison. Last week’s 18 guilty pleas before Judge Cureton bring the total number of Operation Showdown guilty pleas to 26. Four more defendants are scheduled to plead guilty in federal court this Wednesday.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives led the initiative with vital participation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Fort Worth Police Department, Texoma High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the United States Marshals Service, Texas Department of Public Safety, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, and the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement – Enforcement and Removal Operations.
This investigation is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s OCDETFs and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Pending charges against the remaining defendants are merely allegations, and each is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.