Press release from U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Texas
SAN ANTONIO — Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 200 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from Feb. 13 to Feb. 19, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons announced.
The charges include human smuggling and illegal re-entry cases involving individuals with prior convictions for sex offenses, violent crimes, drug trafficking, driving while intoxicated and multiple removals from the United States.
Among the cases, U.S. citizens Arturo Reyes and Anthony Joseph Scalza were arrested west of Tornillo after U.S. Border Patrol agents found three migrants from Guatemala and El Salvador hiding in a pecan orchard. According to a criminal complaint, agents obtained consent to search cell phones and identified communication with a driver arranging transportation. Reyes and Scalza allegedly arrived in separate vehicles to pick up the migrants and instead encountered agents. Each faces one count of alien smuggling.
Authorities also charged several previously deported foreign nationals with illegal re-entry, including:
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Julio Lucas Santos-Santos, a Guatemalan national convicted of first-degree rape in Queens, New York, who was found west of the Tornillo Port of Entry after being removed in July 2025.
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Edgar Gutierrez-Perez, deported four times, most recently in August 2025, with prior convictions in Georgia for family violence battery and aggravated assault.
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Angel Eduardo Zamora-Yanez, previously deported eight times, with a conviction for assaulting a peace officer.
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Isman Manuel Garcia-Ozorto, a Honduran national with convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault causing bodily injury and drug possession.
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Ever Rivera-Molina, a Honduran national encountered at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center following a DWI arrest and previously convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Several arrests occurred in the Maverick County area, including Mexican national Jose Octavio Medrano-Adame, previously deported twice and convicted of discharging a firearm, and Cuban national Rolando Portales-Zambrano, who had recently been removed and has prior convictions for smuggling of persons and assault family violence.
Authorities also arrested Mexican nationals Audelio Salmeron-Gomez, convicted of four DWIs including one involving a child, German Ceniceros-Briones, convicted of drug offenses, and Isaac Sanchez-Enriquez, convicted of multiple drug trafficking felonies.
The cases were referred or supported by federal partners including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with state and local law enforcement agencies.
