Out of state trucker among 273 charged as part of newest Operation Take Back America actions

HOUSTON - The Southern District of Texas has filed another 271 cases involving immigration and border security-related crimes from May 15-21, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.

A total of 249 illegal aliens are charged with unlawfully being in the United States - 67 and 182 for illegal entry and reentry, respectively. Most have previous convictions related to narcotics, immigration offenses, violent crimes and more. The cases also include 19 people allegedly involved in human smuggling, while the remaining matters relate to other immigration crimes.

One such case involves an out of state truck driver arrested in a failed human smuggling attempt of 42 illegal aliens in a hot, locked trailer. The charges allege that on May 16, Juan Nasario-Reyes arrived at a checkpoint and claimed his vehicle was empty, but a K-9 alerted, and law enforcement ultimately discovered four illegal aliens concealed inside the cab with 38 more in the trailer. It had been latched shut from the outside with a temperature inside of approximately 92.5 degrees, according to the complaint. A total of 13 of the illegal aliens are also facing either illegal entry or reentry charges, while the remaining are expected to be immediately removed from the country.

Three more complaints involve illegal aliens from Mexico who were allegedly found unlawfully in the United States. One - Santos Rivera-Garcia - has a significant prior conviction for felony illegal reentry and was ordered to serve 63 months in federal prison in 2022 and removed April 24 of this year, according to the complaint. However, the charges allege authorities discovered him near Mission less than a month after that removal. Two other cases allege law enforcement discovered Faustino Soto and Genaro Perez-Alonso near Escobares and Mission, respectively. Both allegedly have prior narcotics convictions and had been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison prior to their removals from the country. With no authorization to be in the United States, all could face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

Also announced this week were the guilty verdicts in two trials against illegal aliens unlawfully in the United States.

A Houston federal jury deliberated for less than 30 minutes before convicting Mexican national Eduardo Aguilera-Gallardo - an illegal alien who claimed he was kidnapped and forced to return to the United States. Testimony revealed that authorities found him in Houston after a deportation officer had previously escorted him across the international boundary in Laredo following his removal order. The jury heard that neither Aguilera-Gallardo nor his family sought assistance from law enforcement in either country and never reported the alleged kidnapping to authorities once in the United States.

In Corpus Christi, a federal jury took less than 10 minutes to convict Jose Leandro Juarez-Rivas, an illegal alien from Mexico. Authorities had identified him on a commercial bus Feb. 18 with no legal authorization to be in the country. The defense attempted to convince the jury Juarez-Rivas did not know he was ordered removed from the United States or that he was not allowed to reenter the country. The jury rejected those claims and found him guilty as charged.

In another Houston case, Jose Angel Martinez Menjivar, an illegal alien sex offender from El Salvador, was ordered to federal prison for 40 months for unlawfully reentering the country without authorization. He has previous convictions for illegal reentry and indecent assault by touching and was first removed in 2022. However, authorities discovered him again in Houston July 9, 2025, with no authorization to be in the United States.

The cases are referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, ICE - Enforcement and Removal Operations, Border Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

The 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 and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

Under current leadership, public safety and a secure border are the top priorities for this district. Enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal histories, including convictions for human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas remains one of the busiest in the nation. It represents 43 counties and more than 10 million people covering 44,000 square miles. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from all seven divisions including Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo work directly with our law enforcement partners on the federal, state and local levels to prosecute the suspected offenders of these and other federal crimes.

An indictment or criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.