Winston-Salem
A brother of the two men charged with killing a Wake County deputy is facing what appears to be an unrelated federal charge of “possession of ammunition by an illegal alien.”
Rolando Marin Sotelo, 18, was driving a 1998 Nisan Sentra when he was pulled over by a Forsyth County sheriff’s deputy on Aug. 16 for operating a vehicle with illegal tint and a fictitious tag, according to court documents.
He was charged with possession of ammunition by an illegal alien after two boxes of 9 mm bullets were found on the front passenger-side floorboard.
The stop occurred on the same day that his two older brothers, now charged with killing Wake Deputy Ned Byrd, were taken into custody in Burke County on federal detainers.
Rolando Marin Sotelo’s attorney, Dylan Greenwood, said he doesn’t believe the federal charge is connected to the investigation into the killing of the deputy.
“Our understanding right now, this is separate and apart from what is going on in Wake County,” Greenwood said.
Alder Alfonso Marin Sotelo, 25, and Arturo Marin Sotelo, 29, were taken into custody Aug. 16 on Interstate 40 after law enforcement officials asked Burke County Sheriff’s Office to help apprehend the men, who were being followed by various agencies. Both men were indicted Tuesday and charged with murder in Byrd’s death on Aug. 11.
Arturo Marin Sotelo also faces a an unrelated federal gun charge of “possession of a firearm by an illegal alien” that stemmed from a 2021 traffic stop by a state trooper in Chapel Hill..
Multiple state, local and federal agencies helped the Wake County Sheriff’s Office in identifying and arresting the men.
The two men charged with killing Byrd were identified after federal officials analyzed cell-phone usage in the area where Byrd was found dead and narrowed down the suspects, a person familiar with the investigation said. Once federal officials identified the suspects and their location, they put them under surveillance and followed them to Burke County.
Byrd, a 13-year veteran of Sheriff’s Office, was found shot multiple times outside of his unmarked Sheriff’s Office SUV around 1 a.m. Aug. 12.
Rolando Sotelo Marin and Alder Sotelo Marin were both scheduled to have preliminary and detention hearings in North Carolina’s U.S. Middle District Court in Winston-Salem on Wednesday, but both men waived the hearings.
This story was originally published August 24, 2022 5:35 PM.
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