DEL RIO, Texas – A man was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for his role in a human smuggling operation, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release Wednesday.
Juan Antonio Flores, 36, of Eagle Pass, coordinated trips for a human smuggling organization to bring people to the U.S. illegally, making $4,000 per person transported from Mexico to San Antonio, according to the DOJ.
The people were often transported to Austin, where co-conspirator Pedro Ruiz Gonzalez would receive them, the DOJ said.
Flores and Gonzalez worked together on 15 to 20 human smuggling events, the DOJ said. Another co-conspirator, Armando Garcia-Martinez, known as “Leche,” was a driver for Flores and Gonzales, averaging two to three smuggling trips per week.
During one trip, the DOJ said the smuggling organization took a family of undocumented immigrants hostage and “continuously demanded payments from their relatives in the form of electronic wire transfers.”
The family consisted of a man, pregnant woman and their 7-year-old child, the DOJ said. Due to threats made toward the family, a relative paid at least $1,000 to the organization on July 9, 2023.
“Still, the (organization) continued to demand payment to different accounts as a condition for the release,” the DOJ said.
On April 24, 2024, Flores was named in a six-count indictment and arrested on June 12, 2024.
He pleaded guilty on Oct. 7, 2024, according to the DOJ, and was sentenced in a Del Rio federal court to 212 months in prison.
Co-defendant Edwin Alredo Barrientos-Mateo, known as “Waches,” was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Co-defendant Nelson Abilio Castro-Zelaya was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The DOJ said all other co-defendants pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
According to the DOJ, the case is part of “Operation Take Back America,” a nationwide imitative that uses DOJ resources to crack down on illegal immigration and criminal organization activity.
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