Seven more people were sentenced to prison Wednesday for their roles in a July 4, 2025, shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, that wounded a police officer, with penalties ranging from nearly two years to 50 years in federal prison.
The latest sentencings in Fort Worth federal court add to additional prison terms from the same case, following a prior round in which eight other defendants received 30- to 100-year sentences. The case has drawn scrutiny from critics who said the government’s use of terrorism charges against protesters could have broad implications for First Amendment rights nationwide.
Six of the seven defendants sentenced Wednesday pleaded guilty to charges related to the shooting. They each received prison terms ranging from close to two years to 15 years, according to reports from the courtroom.
Ines Soto, who pleaded not guilty but was convicted at trial of providing material support to terrorists, riot and planning to use explosives in the form of fireworks, received a 50-year sentence. Soto’s wife, Elizabeth, was among eight defendants sentenced in the previous round and also received 50 years.
Two other defendants from the earlier sentencings — Benjamin “Champagne” Song, a former Marine Corps reservist convicted of attempted murder in the shooting, and Daniel Sanchez Estrada, who did not attend the protest — received 100-year and 30-year prison terms, respectively. Some defendants, including Song and Elizabeth Soto, have filed notices of appeal.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, who has presided over the case, called the protest an “assault on democracy” before handing down the lengthy prison terms last week to the first eight defendants.
The federal government charged the protesters with conspiring to ambush a law enforcement officer as part of so-called “antifa,” a loosely networked anti-fascist movement that the government has categorized as a terrorist threat, though antifa is not a single organization or group.
In building their case, prosecutors said the group’s actions — including bringing firearms, first aid kits and wearing body armor — signaled nefarious intent. The FBI also cited political literature found in defendants’ homes as evidence.
Defense attorneys maintained there was no planned ambush and that participants who brought firearms did so for their own protection. They said the gathering was planned as a late-night demonstration with fireworks to show support for immigrants detained inside the facility.
One defendant who pleaded guilty testified at an earlier trial that he spray-painted a guard shack and vehicles in the parking lot.