01/16/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/16/2025 11:34
El Paso, Texas - An El Paso man was sentenced yesterday to 57 months in prison for conspiring with others from April 2021 through November 2023 to knowingly transport aliens who had illegally entered the United States.
According to court documents, since 2021 Mark Anthony Holguin, 28, supervised an alien smuggling organization that helped transport a significant number of aliens from the Republic of Mexico into the United States at El Paso, Texas, and Santa Teresa New Mexico.
U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza stated: "Alien smuggling has become an epidemic in the El Paso community. We need to send a message to these criminals-at all levels of these organizations-that it will not be tolerated, and we will prosecute. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations were a vital part of this investigation in helping to dismantle this alien smuggling organization."
"The outcome of this criminal case should remind those involved in human smuggling that their criminal actions are neither going unnoticed nor undetected," said Jason T. Stevens, special agent in charge for HSI El Paso. "HSI El Paso, jointly with our federal partners, is working tirelessly to secure our borders by identifying, arresting, and prosecuting transnational criminal organizations members responsible for illegally transporting people into and through our country."
The United States Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Holderfield prosecuted the case.