Houston man sentenced to prison for stealing car to smuggle aliens

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Border Patrol and the Edinburg Police Department conducted the investigation that led to the sentence of a Houston man to more than three years in federal prison Jan. 28 for stealing a vehicle that he later used in a failed alien smuggling scheme.

Jesus Jonathan Rodriguez, a 19-year-old Houston resident, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 42 months in prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release for carjacking. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the charges Sept. 23, 2024.

“Driven exclusively by greed, these two human smugglers conspired to undermine our nation’s immigration laws for their own profit, with a callous and reckless disregard for the lives they destroyed in the process,” said HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz. “In addition to putting the lives of the aliens they smuggled in danger; they also traumatized the innocent individual whose vehicle they stole by gunpoint.”

Rodriguez and Christian Hardy arranged to steal a Ford Fiesta to carry out an alien smuggling scheme on May 19, 2024. The scheme began outside a convenience store in Edinburg, Texas, when both men approached a vehicle sitting in the parking lot. While Rodriguez spoke to the driver, Hardy climbed into the car. Rodriguez then brandished a gun and threatened the vehicle owner, demanding he get out. Once the drive got out of the car, Rodriguez got in and they drove away.

The following day, Rodriguez and Hardy approached the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint driving the stolen car. Authorities immediately discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen and referred them to secondary inspection. During inspection, law enforcement found two undocumented aliens in the trunk and a firearm in Rodriguez’ possession.

Hardy, an 18-year-old resident of Richmond, also pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

Rodriguez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Martin prosecuted the case.

For more news and information on HSI’s efforts to investigate human smuggling and other transnational criminal activity in Southeast Texas, follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSIHouston.