Illegal alien gets maximum sentence for leading smuggling organization involving transportation of over 100 people

Editor's Note:
This matter occurred on date indicated, but not published at that time due to government shutdown. Press release posted and made available following the return to normal operations.   

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 41-year-old Mexican national who illegally resided in Houston has been sentenced for an alien smuggling conspiracy and illegal reentry into the country, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Edgar Ruiz-Briones pleaded guilty July 22.

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos has now ordered Ruiz-Briones to serve the maximum of 120 months in federal prison. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment.

The investigation revealed Ruiz-Briones arranged transportation and coordinating trips for illegal aliens coming over the southern border with Mexico. Ruiz-Briones was the leader of the smuggling organization, recruiting drivers from as far away as Kansas to come to the Rio Grande Valley.

Drivers would communicate directly with Ruiz-Briones to set up the trips, give updates on progress and set meeting spots for drop-offs in Houston after successful smuggling operations. They would pick up illegal aliens from different stash houses and transport them to Houston, where they met with Ruiz-Briones before going further into the United States.

Ruiz-Briones handled payments from the aliens to come into the United States and payments to the drivers he recruited.

Over the course of the 18-month conspiracy, Ruiz-Briones arranged for over 100 aliens to enter, remain and be transported further into the United States.

An illegal alien himself having been removed from the United States on multiple occasions, he also pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States from Mexico and remaining here in violation of the law.

Ruiz-Briones has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of Border Patrol.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Griffith is prosecuting 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 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 and Project Safe Neighborhood.