SAN ANTONIO, TX – United States Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced that federal prosecutors in the district filed 229 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from Jan. 9 to Jan. 15.
Additionally, the district received 125 new habeas petitions, bringing the total to 817 civil immigration cases received since Jan. 20, 2025. Charges were brought against illegal aliens with past convictions for violent crimes and DWIs, as well as alleged human smugglers and aliens with multiple prior removals.
Among the cases, Ricardo Mujica-Calderon, a Mexican national, had illegally re-entered the United States and sold a kilogram of methamphetamine to a confidential source. When agents executed a search warrant at Mujica’s house, he slammed the door shut and fled before being arrested in a neighbor's yard. Agents found approximately 13 kilograms of methamphetamine in Mujica’s home. Agents also found an AR-15, two "ghost guns", and three other pistols, all of which were loaded. While being transferred to jail, Mujica fought the officer in an attempt to escape. The officer pulled over, requested assistance from local authorities, and was able to secure him, preventing the escape. Mujica’s criminal record includes a conviction for assault of a family member by choking/strangulation; a conviction for driving while intoxicated with a child under 15 years of age; and two convictions for illegal re-entry into the United States.
On Jan. 13, ICE officers were conducting operations in San Antonio and approached a vehicle registered to Robyn Argote-Brooks. The driver, Argote, a Cuban national, had entered the US in Laredo where Customs and Border Protection issued Argote a Notice to Appear and paroled him into the U.S. on Oct. 11, 2024. His parole had been terminated on April 18, 2025. When officers decided to apprehend Argote, Argote rolled up his window and refused to come out. Argote turned on the ignition and drove his car in reverse causing the officers to jump out of the way of the moving vehicle. Argote then drove forward crashing into another government vehicle and injuring the officer who was driving that vehicle. In so doing, Argote caused $4,847.19 in damage. Argote was placed under arrest and transferred for processing.
On Jan. 9, in Frio County, Rodrigo Jose Cedeno-Espinos, a citizen of Venezuela who illegally entered the U.S. on or about Oct. 1, 2023, attempted to escape the Dilley Immigration Processing Center by scaling the perimeter fence after having been detained for immigration proceedings. The Dilley Police Department was notified and Cedeno was in custody within an hour.
A Hollywood Park Police Officer conducting a traffic stop for a traffic violation on Jan. 10, encountered four suspected foreign nationals. After requesting assistance from ICE/ERO, database checks identified Jesus Antonio Flores-Pineda, a citizen of El Salvador who had been previously removed from the U.S. to El Salvador on Dec. 23, 2022. Flores had been convicted in Nevada for Statutory Sexual Seduction and sentenced to a maximum of 48 months and a minimum of 16 months confinement. Flores has not been granted permission to reapply for admission to the United States after his removal.
Lenin Israel Guifarro-Almendarez, an alien to the United States, was found in a storm ditch approximately 0.18 miles west of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso, on Jan. 16. The arresting agent determined that Guifarro is a native and citizen of Honduras without immigration documents allowing him to be or remain in the United States legally. Guifarro had previously been removed from the U.S. to Honduras on Dec. 2, 2024, through Alexandria, Louisiana.
On Jan. 6, at the James R. Dominguez checkpoint on Highway 90 near Uvalde, a canine alerted Customs and Border Protection personnel to a black sedan. Passenger Maximiliano Arellano became combative, refused commands, and struck a Border Patrol agent in the chest, then resisted on the ground. Arellano is charged with one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer.
Border Patrol Agents in Eagle Pass arrested Nelson Alexander Velasquez-Velasquez on Jan. 12. Velasquez was determined to be in the U.S. illegally after having previously deported on November 18, 2016, through Del Rio.
These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.
These cases are 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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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