Publisher’s Note: The following information was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Western District of Texas.
An Alabama man was sentenced in a federal court in Del Rio to 96 months in prison for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens while placing lives in jeopardy, announced U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Justin R. Simmons.
According to court documents, Joel Contreras Jr., 33, of Albertville, Alabama, was a member of the Guzman Transnational Criminal Organization, an international criminal enterprise operating in Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana and Mexico. The organization is directly connected to the Cartel De Jalisco Nueva Generacion and is involved in trafficking guns and drugs and smuggling illegal aliens into the United States.
From May 2021 through June 1, 2022, Contreras communicated with other members of the criminal conspiracy, including the head of the Guzman organization. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers conducted a traffic stop on Contreras on May 9, 2022, after noticing the rear quarter panel of his vehicle was sitting low with little clearance between the tire and wheel well.
During the traffic stop, troopers discovered individuals concealed under a blanket in the second row and rear hatch area of the vehicle. The individuals were identified as illegal aliens whom Contreras had picked up at an Eagle Pass gas station and was transporting to either Houston or San Antonio. Contreras was to be paid $500 per person. He was initially charged by the state with smuggling of persons with a likelihood of serious bodily injury or death, though those charges were later dismissed.
Contreras was again arrested in September 2024 in Marshall County, Alabama, for alleged forgery and obstruction of justice. While in custody, he admitted to his role in the organization and his participation in alien smuggling events. A search of his phone revealed photos, contact information and pin drop locations connected to the group’s smuggling operations.
Contreras was transferred to ICE custody on Nov. 22, 2024, and pleaded guilty on Feb. 18, 2025. He is one of 14 defendants charged in the case and the first to be sentenced. Authorities estimate the organization moved between 50 and 100 illegal aliens per month through the Western District of Texas. Investigators have attributed more than 1,000 illegal aliens and 400 failed smuggling events to the organization. Contreras was held accountable for smuggling 655 individuals.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation with assistance from the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted the case.
