Guatemalan National Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Family Hostage Taking Conspiracy

DEL RIO, Texas – A Guatemalan national was sentenced in a federal court in Del Rio to 360 months in prison for alien smuggling and hostage taking.

According to court documents, Edwin Alfredo Barrientos-Mateo aka “Waches,” 23, was arrested, along with co-conspirator Nelson Abilio Castro-Zelaya, at an apartment in Austin where nine illegal aliens had been held as part of a human smuggling scheme. Three of the illegal aliens being held were a family consisting of a man, pregnant woman, and their seven-year-old child. The day prior to their discovery in Austin, the Eagle Pass Police Department received a report that the family was being held involuntarily and that an alien smuggling organization was demanding a $21,000 payment for the family’s release.

Barrientos-Mateo was named in a six-count indictment on April 24, 2024, and was arrested on May 15, 2024. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking on Nov. 4, 2024.

Castro-Zelaya was sentenced in November 2025 to 180 months in federal prison. All other co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are pending sentencing. Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses presides over the case.

“Alien smuggling organizations care nothing about the hopes and dreams of those they smuggle,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “When they look at an illegal alien, all they see is a dollar sign. Do not trust them with your life because the only life they really care about is their own.”

Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated the case with assistance from the Eagle Pass Police Department, Austin Police Department, Houston Police Department and the Comal County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner 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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

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