Texas Man Sentenced to Nearly 12 Years in Prison for Holding Smuggling Victims Hostage

EL PASO, Texas – A San Elizario man was sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to 140 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit hostage taking.

According to court documents, Luis Lorenzo Salas, 25, operated a stash house where a human smuggling victim from Mexico was being held. Salas created a video depicting himself masked and pointing a rifle at the victim. A screenshot of the video was sent to the victim’s family along with threatening messages demanding that they pay $10,000 or the victim’s ears and fingers would be removed. Homeland Security Investigation agents located and rescued the victim along with eight other noncitizens, all of whom were unharmed. Salas was arrested April 17, 2023. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 29, 2023, to one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking.

“This defendant caused severe, lasting damage that will haunt his smuggling victims and their families for the rest of their lives,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “Thanks to our partners at HSI, the victims in this case are safe and we’ve taken another smuggler out of operation for the next decade.”

“Human smugglers who exploit people for their personal gain and further use threats and violence to collect a ransom will be held accountable as this sentence makes clear,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason T. Stevens for the HSI El Paso Division. “Human smuggling poses a threat to national security, and it ultimately places a vulnerable population in harm’s way.”

HSI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mathew Engelbaum prosecuted the case.

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