Former National Guard Member Faces Up To a Decade In Prison After Being Found Guilty In Human Smuggling Case

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A former member of the Texas National Guard faces up to ten years in prison after being found guilty of conspiring to smuggle migrants in to the U.S.

The person in question is Mario Sandoval, who is set to be sentenced in October, according to Border Report. He was deployed to the border as part of Texas' Operation Lone Star, carried out by the Greg Abbott administration to reduce unlawful migration to the state and send those who had entered to Democratic-led cities.

The case presented by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei claims Sandoval began smuggling migrants in July last year. The jury was presented with text messages where Sandoval said he needed drivers for trips from the Rio Grande Valley to locations north of an immigration checkpoint in which he was stationed. He was discharged in October after being discovered.

Several such cases have taken place over the past weeks. Earlier in July, another Texas man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for smuggling thousands of migrants into the country. Enil Edil Mejia Zuniga was sentenced for his role in a smuggling ring that spanned three continents.

Also known as "Chino," Mejia Zuniga worked with a Pakistani smuggler based in Brazil who brought in people from South America and Central and South Asia. They were then taken to Mexico and smuggled into the U.S: through Eagle Pass, Texas.

Clients paid between $6,500 and $12,000 each, and Mejia Zuniga got some $3,000 for every person who made it across the border and $3,000 more for those who got to San Antonio, according to federal officials.

The ring also was accused of supervising homes in Monterrey and Piedras Negras, in Mexico, where migrants were kept while waiting to be smuggled. Mejia Zuniga entered a plea agreement in 2023 after being confronted with witness testimonies, wire transfer records, client ledgers and photos.

Last week, Manuel Alejandro Melendez-Cereceres, a Mexican national known as "Monstro," was indicted with three counts of human smuggling.

Citing the U.S. Attorney's Office with the Western District of Texas, Border Report noted that the man was a facilitator for human smuggling enterprises.

His role entailed recruiting and coordinating drivers and vehicles to pick up smuggled migrants and take them to stashing locations where they would then be picked up by another driver, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.