Western District of Texas Federal Prosecutors File 255 New Immigration Cases (DOJ)

SAN ANTONIO - Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 255 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from Feb. 6 to Feb. 12, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons. Charges were brought against human smugglers and illegal aliens with past convictions for child sexual assault, violent crimes, DWIs, and multiple prior removals.

Among the new cases, Mexican national Luis Soto-Leyva attempted to enter the United States through the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry (POE) in El Paso on Oct. 1, 2024. That encounter led him to an improper entry conviction. Soto-Leyva was detained again in February 2026, after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers observed him crossing the U.S.-Mexico border west of the Paso Del Norte POE. A criminal complaint alleges that Soto-Leyva stated he had been an alien smuggler for approximately four years, making an average of $1,000 to $3,000 per week. He is now charged with one count of alien smuggling and one count of illegal re-entry.

Brenda Nina Sanchez-Felix, who maintains a Lawful Permanent Resident Card, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents after agents located her pickup truck pulled over with a flat tire on TX-20. The maroon vehicle allegedly matched what a camera had captured near suspected alien activity eight miles west of the Tornillo POE. A criminal complaint alleges that agents noticed fresh wet mud on the trim of the vehicle door and several muddy footprints leading away from vehicle, leading the agents to discover nine individuals hiding in the brush. Eight of the individuals stated they were in the U.S. illegally, while one stated he was a U.S. citizen. In September 2025, Sanchez-Felix was convicted of alien smuggling and sentenced to two years of probation.

Convicted felon Marco Antonio De La Vega-Macias, a Mexican national, was found approximately half a mile west of the Bridge of the Americas POE in El Paso on Feb. 9. He was removed from the U.S. for the fourth time on Sept. 29, 2023, following his second illegal re-entry conviction. De La Vega-Macias has a prior conviction for engaging in sexual contact with a minor and multiple theft charges.

In San Antonio, Mexican national Abraham Hermilindo Gallegos-Mendez was charged with one count of alien in possession of a firearm. On Feb. 9, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers conducted a traffic stop on a sedan. A criminal complaint alleges Gallegos-Mendez exited the front passenger door of the vehicle and ran. The troopers apprehended him a short distance from the initial stop and conducted a search of the front passenger area where Gallegos-Mendez had allegedly been sitting in the vehicle. The complaint alleges that the troopers located a blue jacket containing a loaded 9mm handgun.

Mexican national Leonel Nazario Ramos-Guerrero was arrested near Maverick on Feb. 7 and charged with illegal re-entry. He was recently deported for the seventh time on Oct. 29, 2025. His criminal record includes illegal re-entry, two convictions for assault causing bodily injury, assault on a law enforcement officer, and resisting an officer.

Zeferino Turrubiates-Ramos, also a Mexican national, was arrested near Val Verde on Feb. 8 and charged with illegal re-entry. He was recently deported on Nov. 17, 2025-also for the seventh time. He was convicted in 2017 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and in 2018 for illegal re-entry. In 2021, he was found to have violated previously imposed conditions of probation.

Mexican national Ruben Villela Briones was taken into ICE custody on Feb. 6, after serving two years in the Travis County Jail for a stalking conviction. Briones has been previously removed from the U.S. three times with three additional voluntary returns. His criminal record also includes two assault convictions, resisting arrest, and illegal re-entry.

These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas-San Antonio, Austin and El Paso-and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.

These cases are 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.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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