Press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas
DEL RIO, Texas — A Houston man was sentenced in federal court in Del Rio to 35 years in prison for his role in a smuggling operation that resulted in the deaths of two illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.
According to court documents, Roland Heith Martinez, 26, was identified as an active member of the Guzman Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO) from May 2021 until he was arrested on a drug trafficking charge in Houston on Jan. 25, 2023. The Guzman TCO is an international criminal enterprise operating in Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana and Mexico. Directly connected to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), the organization traffics guns and drugs and smuggles illegal aliens into the United States.
In his role for the TCO, Martinez conspired to transport illegal aliens within the U.S., sending more than $54,000 to multiple smuggling facilitators through at least 368 money transfers and Cash App payments, and soliciting additional load drivers for future smuggling operations. One of the smuggling events tied to Martinez and his co-conspirators resulted in a fatal single-vehicle crash in Kimble County on Aug. 7, 2022. Two illegal aliens died in the crash, as did the smuggling vehicle’s driver, a U.S. citizen.
Already arrested for unrelated federal drug charges in the Southern District of Texas in January 2023, Martinez was named in a 12-count superseding indictment in the Western District of Texas on June 26, 2024. He pleaded guilty in the Western District on June 30, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death.
“Martinez was heavily involved in the operations of the Guzman TCO, not only facilitating tens of thousands of dollars in smuggling funds, but managing stash houses and dealing firearms as well,” Simmons said. “Our Assistant U.S. Attorneys and our partners at HSI have been working diligently to bring down this TCO and others that operate in the Western District, and successful prosecutions like this one prove that the work is paying off.”
“Roland Heith Martinez’s sentencing delivered a measure of justice for the victims of his violent criminal organization, including two illegal aliens who lost their lives,” said John A. Pasciucco, special agent in charge of HSI San Antonio. “HSI Eagle Pass led the investigation that exposed a pattern of violence that included murder, attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping, home invasion and arson. This 35-year sentence reflects the seriousness of these crimes and HSI’s unwavering commitment to dismantling violent criminal organizations, protecting the public and bringing dangerous offenders to justice.”
The sentence handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses will be served consecutively to the 140-month sentence Martinez received in 2023 in the Southern District of Texas for drug trafficking charges.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted it.
