On Wednesday a jury found William Alvarez Calo, 30, guilty of first degree murder for the shooting death of Jamie Diaz-Solis, who was not the intended target.

In July co-defendant Mazzar Robinson, 41, was found guilty of Murder in the First Degree, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Burglary, Attempted Robbery and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. Co-defendant Michael Rowland, 32, was found guilty of Murder in the First Degree, Burglary and Attempted Robbery.

“Our streets are safer with these defendants in prison,” said Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. “Good work on a complicated cartel case by Deputy Prosecutors Maureen Goodman and Doug Hill.”

On November 12, 2012, police responded to a report of shots fired at the Greenwood Apartment complex in Lakewood. When officers arrived, they found the body of Jamie Diaz-Solis lying at the foot of the stairs outside his apartment.

Police found almost 38 pounds of methamphetamine and Heroin and $37,000.00 in cash in or around the crime scene. Investigators learned that Diaz-Solis and his roommate, Juan Hidalgo-Mendoza, were part of a major Mexican drug cartel.

Mr. Hidalgo-Mendoza told police he was in his bedroom when he heard a male’s voice, and then heard a gunshot. He said he then jumped out of a window to avoid being shot. He returned to the apartment after the assailants had left, and dragged out the body of Mr. Diaz-Solis.

In February, 2013, investigators contacted Alvarez Calo who confessed he had arranged for three men to kill Hidalgo-Mendoza. Apparently Alvarez Calo thought he could climb the ladder of the distribution chain by arranging the murder of Hidalgo-Mendoza, a higher-up, and blaming the murder on another higher-up. The plan went awry when the wrong person, Mr. Diaz-Stolis, was shot and killed by Robinson.

Alvarez Calo is expected to be sentenced November 28.