6th person convicted, another arrest made in south Texas human smuggling scheme

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A south Texas woman pleaded guilty Thursday making her the sixth person to be convicted for supporting an alien smuggling organization that operated throughout south Texas; the seventh and final defendant was arrested in Houston Jan. 7.

This guilty plea and arrest were announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Ruth Fernandez Morales-Lopez, 32, pleaded guilty Jan. 8 to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens to stash houses in the Brownsville area. Alfredo Prieto, 43, of Laguna Vista, Texas, was arrested Wednesday on related charges.

The following five others have also pleaded guilty to alien smuggling charges:  Abram Erasmo Rodriguez, 21, a U.S. citizen from Los Fresnos, Texas; Olegario Reyes-Bonola, 50; Esteban Castro-Molina, 40; Digma Salinas-De Rivera, 41; and Jose Antonio Marin-Sanchez, 43.

These charges were identified in a 14-count indictment returned in Brownsville Dec. 11, 2014. The smuggled aliens were transported to stash houses in the Brownsville area where they were concealed until they were transported north to Houston.

Reyes-Bonola, Castro-Molina and Salinas-De Rivera — all illegal aliens from Mexico who resided in San Benito, Texas — were arrested Nov. 19 in San Benito at a stash house with 30 of their smuggled aliens. All three admitted they were responsible for concealing and harboring the aliens at the direction of Morales-Lopez.  Marin-Sanchez, also an illegal alien who resided in Brownsville, was arrested the same day as he was transporting illegal aliens to the San Benito stash house.

Prieto, the seventh and final defendant, appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Smith where the judge charged him with money laundering.

Further investigation into the organization revealed more than $1 million in smuggling fees being laundered through bank accounts and money services businesses.

Morales-Lopez pleaded guilty to bringing in and harboring aliens, and money laundering. She admitted she was the person who decided who could stay and who could go to the San Benito stash house based on whether they paid their smuggling fees. She further admitted that the $1,091,229.90 that was discovered in her bank account was generated from alien smuggling fees; and she structured her withdrawals from that account to circumvent the Bank Secrecy Act.

Rodriguez previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring into and transport certain aliens within the United States, admitting that from November 2013 through August 2014 he participated in the conspiracy. Specifically, he was instructed to pick up the aliens and transport them to the stash house. The plea agreement further indicates that he opened a bank account at the direction of Morales-Lopez. He then accepted cash deposits from families of the smuggled aliens as payment and turned it over to Morales-Lopez.

Castro-Molina, Reyes-Bonola, Salinas-De Rivera and Marin-Sanchez all pleaded guilty to bringing in and harboring certain aliens.

The six so far convicted are all set for sentencing April 7 before U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle. Morales-Lopez faces up to 10 years in federal prison for the smuggling conviction; and up to 20 years for money laundering. The remaining five each face up to 10 years of federal imprisonment.

The charges against Prieto are pending. He is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.

U.S. Attorneys Ana Cano and Karen Betancourt, Southern District of Texas, are prosecuting this case.