Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Willful Failure to Register Charge in Waco

WACO, Texas – A Mexican national pleaded guilty in a federal court in Waco to one count of willful failure to register.

According to court documents, Diego Zaragoza-Rios was pulled over by Texas Department of Public Safety for a traffic violation near Itasca on Sept. 20, 2024. Assisted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a check of immigration databases yielded negative results for any lawful admission into the U.S., and Zaragoza-Rios admitted during a telephonic interview with an ICE deportation officer that he had entered the U.S. unlawfully sometime in 2023.

Zaragoza-Rios pleaded guilty to the charge on Monday in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Derek T. Gilliland, who sentenced the defendant to time served.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Smith-Burris prosecuted 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 (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

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