Nicaraguan Man Sentenced to Over 5 Years in Federal Prison for Smuggling More Than 400 Aliens

SAN ANTONIO - A Nicaraguan national was sentenced in a federal court in San Antonio to 63 months in prison for harboring and transporting over 400 illegal aliens between October 2023 and February 2024.

According to court documents, Jose David Betanco-Ramirez, 37, conspired with two other individuals to transport and harbor approximately 20 illegal aliens per week for approximately five months. In June 2024, San Antonio Police Department officers investigated a report of human trafficking and sexual assault at a San Antonio address. Upon arrival, officers confirmed that the residence was being used as a stash house for human smuggling and observed the woman who matched the description in the sexual assault report. In a bedroom with the victim, the officers located Betanco-Ramirez. In a separate room, they located co-conspirators Leomar Jose Mendoza-Amador, of Nicaragua, and Rony Jose Gonzalez-Amaya, of Honduras, as well as another Nicaraguan national who was in the U.S. illegally. The residence was reported to be sparsely furnished but with numerous beds in the living room and throughout the house. A search warrant resulted in the recovery of a bag containing nine cell phones.

The investigation revealed that the sexual assault victim had entered the U.S. illegally several days prior to the reported incident and was transported along with approximately 60 other undocumented aliens, including other women and children, in the back of a tractor trailer truck before they were shuffled between multiple stash houses. The victim also reported that on the first night in her final stash house, Betanco-Ramirez told the other males that she was "his" and that they were not to touch her. The following night, he sexually assaulted her for the first of two instances.

Betanco-Ramirez, Mendoza-Amador and Gonzalez-Amaya were each indicted on April 3, 2024, for one count of conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens and one count of harboring illegal aliens. Betanco pleaded guilty to both charges on April 8, 2025. His two co-defendants pleaded guilty to the alien smuggling charge. Mendoza-Amador and Gonzalez-Amaya were both sentenced to 51 months in federal prison earlier this year. U.S. District Court Judge Xavier Rodriguez presided over the court proceedings.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

ICE and the San Antonio Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Spears prosecuted the case.

This case is 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. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

###