EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — A Mexican national with legal permanent resident status has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison in El Paso for his role in a human smuggling operation that used cross-border tunnels and storm drains to bring people into the United States.
Ricardo Guadalupe Dominguez, 54, of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, was sentenced to 42 months in prison in federal court in El Paso, according to the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons.
Court documents say Dominguez and other members of a human smuggling organization used a subterranean passage and connecting storm drain tunnels to bring aliens into the U.S. from Mexico. Prosecutors said Dominguez facilitated the smuggling events by providing vehicles and tools used to tamper with and damage existing storm drains.
Dominguez was also identified as being involved with the construction of a man-made cross-border tunnel discovered Jan. 10, 2025, officials said.
Authorities said Dominguez was arrested while attempting to cross into the U.S. from Mexico through the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry.
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He pleaded guilty Dec. 17, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to bring in aliens.
A co-defendant, Oscar Ivan Carrillo, was sentenced in January to 33 months in federal prison for conspiracy to use a border tunnel.
Court documents say Carrillo and others guided humans through the tunnels and into the U.S.
At the tunnel exit, investigators said a box truck modified with a trap door was driven over a manhole cover, then opened so the aliens could climb out of the tunnel and into the truck without being detected.
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