United States of America v. Michael Dwayne Banks and Victor Valente-Reynoso

Atlanta, Georgia, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with distributing controlled substances and possession of a machine gun.

On August 23, 2022, Victor Valente Reynoso, an illegal alien from Mexico, sold 536 fentanyl pills outside a gas station in Clayton County, Georgia. Following that deal, Reynoso and his conspirators arranged to sell 5,000 fentanyl pills at a church parking lot in Fulton County, Georgia. Law enforcement foiled the drug deal and arrested Reynoso, in possession of 4,000 fentanyl pills and 1,000 fake Xanax pills, as well as Michael Dwayne Banks, who was armed with a loaded handgun to protect the deal.

Agents later searched Banks’s residence and recovered more fake Xanax pills, blue fentanyl pills, oxycodone, cocaine, and several large bags of marijuana there. Agents also found another loaded handgun and three rifles, including a short barrel machine gun.

On January 8, 2026, U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones sentenced Michael Dwayne Banks, 31, of Atlanta, Georgia, to 13 years, eight months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Banks was convicted of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on October 9, 2025, after he pleaded guilty.

On July 12, 2023, Judge Jones sentenced Victor Valente-Reynoso, 27, of Acapulco, Mexico, to 10 years and 10 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Valente-Reynoso was convicted of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on January 31, 2023, after he pleaded guilty.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dwayne Brown, Jr. and Phyllis Clerk, and former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebeca Ojeda and Miguel Acosta, prosecuted the case.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with valuable assistance provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Georgia State Patrol, and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

Michael Dwayne Banks and Victor Valente-Reynoso, an illegal alien, have each been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for possessing illegal drugs with intent to distribute and possessing firearms in furtherance of their drug trafficking crimes.

Michael Dwayne Banks was sentenced to prisoned for a total term of ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR (164) MONTHS: one hundred four (104) months as to Count 2 and sixty (60) months as to Count 3, with terms to be served consecutively. Supervised Release for a term of: FOUR (4) YEARS as to each of Counts 2 and 3, with terms to run concurrently. Special Assessment $200.