Publisher’s Note: The following information was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Western District of Texas.
SAN ANTONIO — Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 261 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from April 3 to April 9, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons.
Charges were brought against human smugglers and illegal aliens who, as a group, had prior convictions including DWI (19), aggravated assault (1), evading arrest/detention (5), assault family violence (1), theft (1), possession with intent to distribute (2), burglary of a habitation (2), possession of a controlled substance (6), rape (1), failure to register as a sex offender (1), voter retaliation (1), reckless driving (1), resisting arrest (1), assault family violence-impeding breath (1), failure to ID (3), assault bodily injury (1), fictitious license plate (1), failure to appear (1) and aggravated robbery (1). The vast majority of these crimes were committed by illegal aliens found in and around Austin.
Among the new cases, convicted sex offender Jorge Guerrero-Martinez, an illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested near Val Verde. Guerrero-Martinez was recently deported for the third time on March 13, after being charged in Missouri for failing to register as a sex offender. In 2010, he was convicted of second-degree statutory rape and sentenced to five years in prison. He was then convicted in 2017 of illegal re-entry and sentenced to 57 months confinement.
U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Mexican national Enrique Eleuterio Lopez-Rocha for illegal re-entry near Maverick County. Lopez-Rocha was deported for the second time in May 2025 following a six-month prison sentence for probation violation. His criminal record includes cocaine trafficking in 2020, along with three DWIs.
Samuel Castro, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with alien smuggling in El Paso on April 6. U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended an illegal alien approximately half a mile east of the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry.
A criminal complaint alleges that during the apprehension, agents observed a vehicle parked nearby and questioned its two occupants. Castro was the driver of the vehicle and allegedly told agents that he intended to pick up and transport two illegal aliens and expected to be paid $500 for each.
Castro allegedly claimed to be involved in alien smuggling since 2023, operating as a coordinator and a driver. In October 2024, he was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest with a vehicle.
In San Antonio, Miguel Manzano-Ramirez was encountered after he was arrested by Hollywood Park Police on a public intoxication charge on April 5. He was determined to be an illegal alien from Mexico and later transferred to ICE custody. A review of his criminal history revealed that Manzano-Ramirez has been convicted of three DWIs.
Mexican national Arturo Castro Hernandez was transferred to federal custody on April 6 after being found in Bastrop County. He has been removed from the U.S. twice and previously convicted of three DWIs, evading arrest, reckless driving and failure to identify. He now faces an illegal re-entry charge in Austin.
Also found in Bastrop, Adan Tolentino Guerrero is an illegal alien from Mexico with two prior removals. He was arrested and convicted in 2025 for fleeing from a police officer and his third DWI. He was also convicted of possession of a controlled substance in 2018 and illegal re-entry in 2020.
Honorio Victorino-Rebollar, another illegal alien from Mexico with three prior DWI convictions, was charged with illegal re-entry for the third time after he was found in Travis County on April 5. His last removal was Sept. 5, 2018.
These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement agencies.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties across central and western Texas, encompassing nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes San Antonio, Austin and El Paso, and shares 660 miles of border with Mexico.
Part of Operation Take Back America
These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice targeting illegal immigration, cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
Indictments and criminal complaints are allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
