Illegal alien handed nearly 500-month sentence for distributing drugs and machine guns from South Texas residence after illegally reentering United States

LAREDO, Texas - Two men have been handed significant sentences related to the sale of cocaine, machine guns and other drugs, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Mexican national Carlos Alberto Garcia-Guajardo, 34, guilty on all 12 counts as charged following a less than three-day trial, Dec. 3, 2025. Fernando Patino Jr., 32, Laredo, pleaded guilty prior to trial.

Visting U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle has now ordered Garcia-Guajardo to serve a total of 495 months in federal prison. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment. Patino received a 30-year sentence to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release.

At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence that Garcia-Guajardo acted as a broker for selling narcotics and machine guns. Judge Lemelle considered that Garcia-Guajardo emulated the "gangster" lifestyle and saw images of a Scarface poster hung in Garcia-Guajardo's bedroom. In handing down the sentence, the court noted Garcia-Guajardo's illegal status, the number of drugs and weapons involved, that he was a leader in this criminal enterprise and the dangerousness of Garcia-Guajardo's actions to include discharging firearms near children and from moving vehicles.

At trial, the jury heard that Garcia-Guajardo and Patino sold cocaine and firearms, including several machine guns, out of a residential home in Laredo. Testimony revealed details of the undercover operation which led to the discovery of the conspiracy. Starting Jan. 2, 2025, Patino and Garcia-Guajardo began selling cocaine and machine guns to undercover agents while using the sale of the narcotics and firearms to negotiate additional future deals.

Evidence also showed Garcia-Guajardo and Patino not only sold drugs and weapons but fired them indiscriminately within their neighborhood and conducted extensive drug trafficking. Both Garcia-Guajardo and Patino drove around Laredo, firing various firearms from the windows of their vehicle.

Further, on several occasions, the men had used a minor child to test fire various firearms, including machine guns. In several of these videos, Garcia-Guajardo and Patino were drinking excessively and using drugs.

On Jan. 31, 2025, law enforcement executed a search warrant on the 3000 block of Monterrey Street in Laredo. At that time, they found Garcia-Guajardo along with Jose Guadalupe Hernandez-Garza, a 27-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, as well as scales, cash in various denominations, crack cocaine and multiple firearms stored near items belonging to young children.

Garcia-Guajardo was also convicted of illegal reentry, having been ordered removed from the United States on two occasions, most recently in July 2024. As an illegal alien, he is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition per federal law.

Both Patino and Garcia-Guajardo will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Hernandez-Garza admitted to being an alien illegally in possession of a firearm and ammunition and has been ordered to prison. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Laredo Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of ICE - Enforcement and Removal Operations, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Anti-Gang Unit - Laredo Center and Border Patrol.

Assistant U.S. Attorney's Tory R. Sailer and Brandon Scott Bowling prosecuted the case.

This case is 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, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.