Two Mexican Nationals Sentenced for Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens into the United States

FARGO – United States Attorney Mac Schneider, District of North Dakota, announced that on July 13, 2023, Armando De Dios-Carrillo, age 38 and Victor Manuel Perez-Aguilera, age 35, Mexican Nationals, were sentenced to federal prison for Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens into the United States. De Dios-Carrillo was sentenced to 24 months in prison and a $100 special assessment and Perez-Aguilera was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a $100 special assessment.  The third co-defendant, Jose Ramon Gonzalez-Resendiz, is set for a change-of-plea and sentence hearing on July 24, 2023.  

According to court documents, Armando De Dios-Carrillo and Victor Manuel Perez-Aguilera and others partially carried out the smuggling of a group of nationals of Mexico across the United States-Canada border into North Dakota in late March 2023, planning to move them further into the United States in exchange for payment of thousands of dollars per person. The plan fell apart when a pickup truck they were using got stuck in the snow. The pickup had to be towed from the drifted snow and was discovered by Border Patrol agents later at a Langdon, North Dakota, hotel where the smugglers and some of the people they smuggled were staying.

“These strong sentences are another reminder to smugglers: If you think the northern border is a soft target, think again,” Schneider said. “Smugglers who put human lives at risk at the northern border will be caught by our partners in law enforcement, prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office, and face jail time.”

This case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol, with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection -- Office of Field Operations and Pembina County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob T. Rodenbiker. 

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