Press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas
A leader of the Partido Revolucionario Mexicano (PRM) prison gang was sentenced in federal court in Del Rio to 300 months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.
According to court documents, Louis Iglesias, also known as “Wicho,” 56, of Rosenberg, was arrested on a bench warrant in April 2022 while incarcerated with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The arrest was the result of a federal investigation that began in March 2019, targeting the trafficking and distribution of narcotics by the PRM prison gang. As part of the investigation, agents uncovered several phone conversations between Iglesias and co-conspirators that involved obtaining, dividing and distributing heroin. One of the conversations included a message from Iglesias to a co-conspirator, instructing them to sell 250 grams of heroin.
Iglesias was charged in a federal indictment on June 9, 2021. At the time of the indictment, Iglesias was already serving 39 years in state prison for multiple convictions, including engaging in organized criminal activity, criminal solicitation of capital murder and prohibited item in a correctional facility. He pleaded guilty to one count of the federal indictment on Nov. 7, 2022. He was sentenced Thursday by Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses.
In June 2025, seven PRM members were sentenced to a combined 137 years in federal prison. Other co-defendants previously sentenced include Carlos Eduardo Saldana Jr., who was sentenced in August 2023 to 120 months, Kevin Ritchie, who received 420 months in prison in October 2023, and Clinton Ritchie, who was sentenced in July 2024 to 235 months in federal prison. Related DOJ release
The DEA and FBI led the investigation, known as Operation Tequila Sunset. Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Border Patrol, Texas Department of Public Safety, Eagle Pass Police Department and the sheriff’s offices from Maverick, Dimmit and Val Verde counties assisted. Also instrumental was the Bureau of Prisons’ National Gang Unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America
