US Attorney's Office marches into April with 259 new immigration cases

Yahoo

05-04-2025

Apr. 4—SAN ANTONIO — Acting United States Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 259 immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from March 28 through April 3.
Among the new cases, Mexican national Miguel Angel Torres-Segura resided illegally in San Antonio and was arrested March 28 for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens. A criminal complaint alleges that Torres-Segura participated in a human smuggling organization (HSO) that transported illegal aliens using tractor trailers, carrying out at least 19 human smuggling events and leading to the apprehension of more than 900 aliens between May 2021 and June 2022. Torres-Segura allegedly communicated with high-level leaders and organizers and assisted the HSO by transporting aliens and preparing tractor trailers for transport. Torres-Segura has multiple convictions, including two illegal entries in 2009 and 2010 and an illegal re-entry in 2011. He was convicted again for illegal re-entry on March 26 following an October 2024 arrest and has now been charged with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens.
On March 26, 2025, in Presidio County, Texas, Miguel Andres Aguilar, a citizen and national of Mexico, was found in the United States illegally after having been preciously deported. Aguilar was removed in February 2017 through San Ysidro California. Border Patrol Agents had determined Aguilar had been deported from the US on four prior occasions.
On March 31, 2025, at the Camino Real International Bridge II in Eagle Pass, Texas, Customs and Border Protection Officers conducting outbound operations observed a black semi-automatic pistol in the luggage being carried by Roman Lagunas-Nazario. Lagunas, a permanent resident alien, advised officers that he lives in Mexico and was in the US to visit family in Houston. He admitted being hired to transport the firearm to Mexico for $100. Lagunas was charged with smuggling goods from the United States and faces imprisonment for up to 10 years.
On March 27, 2025, Victor Alfonso Cruz-Garcia was charged with illegal reentry after deportation in Del Rio, Texas, after being arrested by US Border Patrol Agents. Cruz had been previously removed from the US on two occasions and was previously convicted of second degree murder.
Customs and Border Protection Officers at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry arrested Juan Sebastian Cortez-Calzada on March 26, 2025. Cortez was taken to Passport Control Secondary where record checks confirmed that he is a native and citizen of Mexico with no legal right to enter the United States. Record checks further revealed that Cortez was deported to Mexico on February 22, 2012, through the Port of Laredo, Texas. Additionally, Cortez has a felony conviction for a controlled substance prior to his removal.
Ronald Keith Henderson Jr. was arrested near Eagle Pass, Texas on Sunday, March 27, 2025. The driver of a gray Chevrolet Malibu, he was stopped near the Kickapoo Reservation in Eagle Pass. Three subjects in the vehicle were determined to be illegally present in the United States and freely admitted to had just crossed the Rio Grande River. Henderson admitted to conspiring with unknown subjects to transport aliens further into the United States.
Carlos Heliberto Solares y Solares, a Guatemalan citizen, traveling in a Chevrolet Malibu with California plates entered a checkpoint in Hudspeth County Texas on March 28, 2025. Solares told agents he was traveling from Los Angeles to Houston to visit his daughter. From Statements made by Solares, it was determined he was without immigration documents allowing him to remain in the United States legally. During an interview with Border Patrol Agents, Solares was asked if he knew he had been ordered removed by a judge and needed to leave the United States in which Solares stated "yes." Solares was ordered removed by an immigration judge on December 05, 2007. Solares had been previously convicted for cruelty to the elderly and domestic violence in 2021 and 2022.
In an area known as Rusty's Canyon approximately 31 miles east of Fort Hancock Texas, Leonela Alejandra Prado-Sanchez was apprehended attempting to conceal herself in the brush. Prado was determined to be a native and citizen of Honduras without immigration documents allowing her to be in the United States legally. Prado had previously been removed from the United States to Mexico on February 5, 2025 through Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
On April 1, 2025, Mexican national Gabriel Gonzalez Carillo was arrested in Hudspeth County 31 miles from Fort Hancock Texas Point of Entry. Gonzalez told agents that he would be paid to be a foot guide and that he was obtaining routes and other information via messages from an unknown smuggler in Mexico. Gonzalez and other illegal aliens were found attempting to conceal themselves in the brush in an area known as Rusty's Canyon.
Kelvin Sauceda-Reyes, a passenger on a Greyhound Bus that entered an immigration inspection lane in Hudspeth County was placed under arrest on March 30, 2025. Sauceda, a citizen of Honduras, handed Border Patrol Agents and expired immigration document. Further search by agents revealed fraudulent Social Security Card and a fraudulent Lawfully Permanent Resident card in his wallet. After questions, Sauceda admitted he purchased the documents for $70 USD.
Luis Alberto Escobedo-Duenas was found approximately 2.8 miles west of the Fort Hancock Port of Entry in Fort Hancock, Texas. Escobedo is a citizen and national of Mexico who had previously been removed from the US on seven prior convictions and had been previously convicted of illegal entry in El Paso, Texas in 2008, on federal drug trafficking charges in Alpine, Texas in 2012 for which he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release, on Indiana state marijuana dealing charges in 2015 for which he was sentenced to two years imprisonment in 2017, on Indiana state resisting law enforcement charges for which he was sentenced to one year imprisonment also in 2017, and was sentenced in 2018 to 13 months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release after his 2012 supervised release was revoked. Escobedo was arrested and charged in federal court in El Paso with illegal reentry after deportation.
Eduardo Garcia-Gutierrez will face illegal reentry after deportation charges in El Paso, Texas, after he was arrested at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry. Garcia presented himself for entry indicating he wanted to travel to California. Garcia admitted that he did not have entry documents and was a citizen of Mexico who had previously been removed from the US. Records checks revealed that Garcia had been previously removed on nine prior occasions, with the last being in 2023. Criminal records check revealed Garcia had been convicted of transportation/sale of narcotics in 1994 for which he was sentenced to three years imprisonment, possession of narcotics and use of false citizenship documents in 1996 for which he was sentenced to three years imprisonment and was sentenced on four occasions for probation violations from 2018 to 2023.
These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas — San Antonio, Austin and El Paso — and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.
These cases are 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 Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.