Five human smugglers were sentenced to a combined 89 years in federal prison in a South Texas case involving hostage threats against a migrant family.
DEL RIO, Texas — Five members of a human smuggling operation have been sentenced to a combined 89 years in federal prison in a South Texas case involving threats and abuse against undocumented migrants, federal officials said.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, the sentences stem from a smuggling conspiracy that transported migrants across Texas and placed victims in dangerous situations.
One of the defendants, Rodolfo Daniel De Hoyos, 22, of Eagle Pass, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Del Rio to 170 months in prison for conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.
Investigators say De Hoyos was first arrested in November 2021 in Kinney County after a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped his vehicle and found three migrants from Guatemala inside.
Authorities later tied him to a larger smuggling organization that transported undocumented migrants across the state.
Prosecutors say one smuggling incident involved a family traveling from San Antonio to Austin, including a pregnant woman and a 7-year-old child. According to court documents, members of the organization held the family hostage, sexually assaulted the woman and threatened to harm the child if additional payments were not made.
Four other co-defendants were also sentenced in the case, receiving prison terms ranging from 151 months to 360 months, bringing the total prison time for the five defendants to nearly nine decades.
Federal officials say four additional defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
The investigation was conducted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations.