Honduran Man Pleads Guilty to Transporting Illegal Aliens Within the United States

Gulfport, Miss. – Jose Ceferino Guardado-Reyes, 38, and a citizen of Honduras who had been living in Texas, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden, to transporting an illegal alien within the United States, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca, Jack Stanton, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans, and Michael J. Harrison, Acting Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s New Orleans Sector. 

Guardado-Reyes is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ozerden on June 16, 2021, at 9:30 a.m.  He faces maximum penalties of 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and $5,100 in special assessments. 

On January 26, 2021, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent conducted a traffic stop on a 2010 white Ford F-150 on Interstate 10 eastbound near Mile Marker 50, in Jackson County. During the encounter, the Border Patrol Agent, who was speaking Spanish, determined that Guardado-Reyes and both of his passengers all were unlawfully present in the U.S.  It also was determined that Guardado-Reyes was unlawfully transporting or smuggling his two passengers from Texas to Florida.

Acting U.S. Attorney LaMarca praised the cooperation exhibited by the Department of Homeland Security, United States Border Patrol, and Homeland Security Investigations.  Assistant United States Attorney Stan Harris is the prosecutor for the case.