Latest news with #Zapata-Colmenarez
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a day ago
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Venezuelan man convicted of using El Paso apartment as stash house for migrants
A Venezuelan man was found guilty by a federal jury of operating a migrant stash house in a Northeast El Paso apartment. A federal jury convicted Marcel Eliezer Zapata-Colmenarez, 26, on Tuesday, June 3, on one count of conspiracy to harbor aliens, federal court records show. Zapata-Colmenarez is set to be sentenced Aug. 26. He is facing up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone presided over the trial at the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in Downtown El Paso. U.S. Border Patrol agents conducting an immigration investigation went to Zapata-Colmenarez's house in the 4000 block of Sheppard Avenue about 10 a.m. Jan. 30, a federal complaint affidavit states. Agents received information that migrants were being held in an apartment behind Zapata-Colmenarez's house. No information is included in court documents on where agents received the information. The agents questioned Zapata-Colmenarez, who said he was a Venezuelan citizen awaiting his immigration hearing, scheduled for April. More: Reputed drug cartel enforcer denied by bond in murder, drug trafficking case Zapata-Colmenarez went to his bedroom to get his immigration paperwork and permitted agents to enter his house, the affidavit states. He also allowed the agents to search the house. Agents found "piles of clothes on the floor, wet and muddy clothing hanging in a closet, and other signs consistent with harboring and smuggling illegal aliens," U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas officials said in a news release. Zapata-Colmenarez allowed agents to search his cell phone. The agents found "proof-of-life videos," the affidavit states. Proof-of-life videos are sent by migrants who illegally crossed the border to acknowledge that they had been smuggled with the assistance of a smuggling network, the news release states. Agents interviewed Zapata-Colmenarez about their suspicion that he was running a stash house. He told agents a man, who is not named in court documents, driving a black sports utility vehicle, offered him a job to house migrants who had illegally crossed into the U.S., the affidavit states. More: Trump administration targets immigrants leaving court in El Paso, as ICE arrests increase The man would call Zapata-Colmenarez and tell him to take the migrants. Zapata-Colmenarez confessed to agents that he housed migrants in his apartment twice, the affidavit states. He added he knew the migrants were illegally in the country. Zapata-Colmenarez said he was paid $50 per migrant he housed at his apartment, the affidavit states. Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@ or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Venezuelan man convicted of running Northeast El Paso stash house
Yahoo
2 days ago
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Venezuelan man convicted of conspiracy to harbor migrants
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A federal jury in El Paso convicted a Venezuelan national of conspiracy to harbor undocumented migrants, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said in a news release. Marcel Eliezer Zapata Zapata-Colmenarez, 26, opened the door of his residence on Jan. 30 to find agents from the U.S. Border Patrol and other federal law enforcement agencies present, according to court documents and evidence presented at trial. The Attorney's Office said that with Zapata-Colmenarez's consent, the agents entered and searched the residence, finding piles of clothes on the floor, wet and muddy clothing hanging in a closet, and other signs consistent with harboring and smuggling undocumented migrants. Zapata-Colmenarez also granted consent for agents to search his cell phone, leading to the discovery of proof-of-life videos — videos sent by recently-crossed undocumented migrants acknowledging that they had been smuggled with the assistance of a smuggling network, the Attorney's Office said. The Attorney's Office said Zapata-Colmenarez later admitted that he accepted an offer to harbor undocumented migrants in his apartment and was paid $50 per migrant. Zapata-Colmenarez was arrested Jan. 30 and indicted a month later for one count of conspiracy to harbor undocumented migrants and one count of harboring undocumented migrants for financial gain, the Attorney's Office said. The Attorney's Office said Zapata-Colmenarez's sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for Aug. 26, and he faces up to 10 years in federal prison along with a fine of up to $250,000. The U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case with assistance from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Wisniewski and Mathew Engelbaum are prosecuting the case, according to the news release. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
