U.S. v. Carlos Favian Martinez, et al.

According to the indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Carlos Favian Martinez, 36, of Mission, Texas; Marco Antonio Medina, 32, of Brownsville, Texas; Rigoberto Brown, 38, of Brownsville, Texas; Pedro Antonio Calvillo Hernandez, 47, of Tamaulipas, Mexico; Roberto Garcia Villareal, 56, of San Benito, Texas; Miguel Hipolito Caballero Aupart, 70, of Brownsville, Texas; Sandra Guerra Medina, 68, of Rancho Viejo, Texas; and Mireya Miranda, 56, of La Feria, Texas, conspired to fix prices and allocate the market for transmigrante services in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. They also allegedly conspired to monopolize the same market in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The indictment alleges they implemented price-fixing agreements and created a centralized entity known as “The Pool” to collect and divide revenues among the conspirators. Transmigrantes are individuals who transport used vehicles and other goods from the United States through Mexico for resale in Central America. Transmigrante forwarding agencies are businesses that provide services to transmigrante clients, including helping those clients complete the customs paperwork required to export vehicles into Mexico.