Laredo Resident Sentenced in Alien Smuggling case

LAREDO, Texas – A 34-year-old Laredoan has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of alien smuggling, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Jose Alfredo Lopez pleaded guilty Oct. 6, 2014.

Today, Senior U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen sentenced Lopez to 50 months, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

In June 2014, Lopez picked up three Honduran nationals who had just crossed the Rio Grande River into the United States and offered to help them. Lopez, who already has an extensive criminal history including a prior conviction for alien smuggling, then took the aliens to his apartment where he demanded money before letting them go. When the money was not immediately forthcoming, Lopez told one of the aliens that she had to pay with either money or her body and attempted to sexually assault her several times.

At the sentencing, Lopez admitted he had harbored illegal aliens for profit, but denied the attempted sexual assault. The alien who had been the target of the attempted sexual assault testified about the incidents, with specific details about the various threats he had made towards the aliens.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sonah Lee.