Erica Aracely Carmona was a member of a smuggling organization that smuggled undocumented migrants to San Antonio from an area around Eagle Pass, officials say.
SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio woman was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay almost $1 million for her role in a deadly migrant smuggling operation, officials say.
36-year-old Erica Aracely Carmona was a member of what the DOJ calls an “alien smuggling organization” (ASO) that smuggled undocumented migrants to San Antonio from an area around Eagle Pass, court documents say.
Officials say Carmona’s role included coordinating smuggling operations with co-conspirators in Mexico and directing other members of the conspiracy when it came to payments and driver coordination.
On May 25, 2021, an ASO driver drove a trailer with undocumented migrants from a home in Eagle Pass to San Antonio. When the trailer arrived in the Alamo City, one of the migrants was near death and died about an hour later.
Officials say the ASO members dumped the deceased migrant into a ditch close to Carmona’s Von Ormy property. She had been using this property as a drop-off location.
Five days later, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office found the body along with their ID card.
ICE determined that Carmona had purchased the Von Ormy property “specifically” for the purpose of migrant smuggling through the ASO.
After the arrest of co-conspirator Evan John Herrera, ICE found WhatsApp communications related to smuggling between the two.
Officials say the ASO smuggled more than 500 migrants and made over $4.7 million between January 2021 and July 2022.
Carmona was arrested on Aug. 23, 2022 and pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2022. She has now been sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $955,350 for conspiracy to transport undocumented migrants resulting in death.
Herrera was sentenced to about 12 and a half years in prison on May 28, 2025 with credit for time served. He also had to pay $955,350.
