SAN ANTONIO – A Mexican national has been sentenced to more than 30 years in federal prison in Del Rio for a smuggling conspiracy that resulted in at least one death.
Pedro Luis Martinez-Jaquez, 36, of Piedras Negras, was sentenced Monday to 365 months in prison for his leadership role in a conspiracy to transport hundreds of illegal aliens, according to U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses also ordered a $500,000 money judgment.
According to court documents, Martinez-Jaquez was a leader in an alien smuggling organization that operated in southwest Texas from at least January 2021 through July 2022. Prosecutors said Martinez-Jaquez and another co-conspirator supplied and organized illegal alien loads and crossed them into the United States for the first leg of their journey.
In one instance cited in court documents, Martinez-Jaquez called co-conspirator Miguel Angel Rivera and said one of the illegal aliens being transported had “passed out” and that he would “deal with it.” Investigators later searched Rivera’s phone and found photos of the alien, who was deceased, according to court records.
Authorities said Martinez-Jaquez’s phone number was linked to the organization through WhatsApp messages with Rivera, Rivera’s sister Luz Rivera, and co-conspirator Erica Aracely Carmona. A search of Martinez-Jaquez’s residence resulted in the discovery of 74 phones, 14 of which were seized. The remaining 60 phones were suspected to belong to illegal aliens who had been transported into the United States, according to court documents.
Court records said the majority of 285 audio messages between Martinez-Jaquez and Luz Rivera referenced pickup coordination, as well as the storage and harboring of illegal aliens. ICE Homeland Security Investigations learned the organization was charging $9,500 per illegal alien to be smuggled into the United States, with half of the proceeds going to Martinez-Jaquez.
Prosecutors said the organization smuggled more than 500 illegal aliens and generated more than $4.7 million in proceeds between January 2021 and July 2022. Authorities said the group used custom-made “tow-behind” trailers to transport illegal aliens, and later began using an 18-wheeler with a false compartment inside the tractor trailer that held up to 40 aliens. That trailer was interdicted by federal law enforcement on the first smuggling attempt, according to court documents.
Martinez-Jaquez was named in an initial indictment on Aug. 17, 2022, and in a superseding indictment on Feb. 28, 2024. He was arrested March 8, 2024, and on Nov. 26, 2024, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death.
“Martinez-Jaquez is one of the most prolific facilitators of alien smuggling in the last decade,” Simmons said. “Over the course of an 18-month operation, he made hundreds of thousands of dollars transporting illegal aliens into the United States. The work we have done to secure the border over the last year has made it very difficult for ASOs like this one to operate and enrich themselves while endangering the lives of those they smuggle. This is a fight worth having, and it is one in which we, in the Western District of Texas, will continue to engage.”
Other defendants in the case have also been sentenced. Herrera and Miguel Rivera were sentenced in May 2025 to 151 months and 216 months in federal prison, each with credit for time served. In January, Carmona was sentenced to 132 months in prison. The final defendant, Jose Eduardo Rodriguez Moreno, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 25.
ICE HSI investigated the case with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, and the Maverick County Sheriff’s Office.