U.S. Attorney’s Office Added 250 New Immigration Cases This Week in Western District of Texas

SAN ANTONIO - Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 250 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from March 6 to March 12, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons. Charges were brought against human smugglers and illegal aliens with past convictions for violent crimes, sex crimes, numerous DWIs, theft, and multiple prior removals.

Among the new cases, Fredy Alberto Guevara-Maldonado, an illegal alien from Honduras, was arrested near Eagle Pass after allegedly resisting arrest and kicking a U.S. Border Patrol canine in the head. A criminal complaint alleges that Guevara-Maldonado subsequently reached for the USBP canine handler agent's weapon and forcefully grabbed the agent's genital area. The Honduran national is charged with assault on a federal officer.

Congo national Stephane Mujinga Elonga was arrested and charged with illegal re-entry in Del Rio. Court documents indicate that Elonga was deported to Canada through Champlain, New York in 2019. He was convicted in 2015 for assault while displaying a dangerous weapon, and in 2016 for both Driving Under the Influence and escape. Elonga allegedly entered the U.S. in January 2023 through Maine.

Convicted felon Rene Lima-Morales, an illegal alien from El Salvador, was arrested by USBP agents near Maverick on March 7. Lima-Morales has been previously removed from the U.S. twice. In 2013, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for aggravated sexual assault. He has also been convicted of burglary of habitation, having a fictitious license plate, burglary of a vehicle, and property theft.

Honduran national Eduardo Henrrique Castron was arrested near Maverick on March 9. He was previously deported to Honduras in June 2025, following a 2023 conviction and four-year prison sentence for second-degree criminal sexual conduct in Wyoming. Henrrique Castron has also been convicted for controlled substance use, domestic violence, and operating a vehicle with a suspended or revoked license.

In the El Paso area, Mexican national Charbel Majluf Vargas-Felix was allegedly found to be the foot guide for a group of five illegal aliens who crossed the Rio Grande River on Tuesday. Using surveillance equipment, a USBP agent observed the group running across Texas Highway 20 nearly two miles west of the Fort Hancock Port of Entry. Vargas-Felix and his group of smuggled aliens were then encountered attempting to conceal themselves inside a water drain. According to a criminal complaint, Vargas-Felix stated that he was to guide the group to a pick-up spot on Interstate Highway 10 and would be paid $200 per illegal alien. He is charged with one count of bringing in and harboring aliens.

Honduran national Santos Gabriel Bustillo-Zelaya aka Santos Gabriel Gonzalez was released from the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on Wednesday and turned over to the custody of ICE Enforcement Removal Operations. He had been jailed in Bexar County for assault causing bodily injury of a family member and possession of a controlled substance. In addition to those offenses, Bustillo-Zelaya's criminal record includes six prior convictions for improper entry to the U.S. by an alien, one conviction for illegal re-entry, a DWI, and convictions for failure to identify, resisting arrest, and evading arrest.

On March 7, ICE ERO agents in Bexar County arrested Mexican national Sergio Lugo-Rodriguez aka Juan Lugo-Godines during a traffic stop in which he was a passenger. Lugo-Rodriguez was previously removed from the U.S. in 2014, following a 2013 conviction for failing to stop and render aid resulting in injury or death. He was also convicted in 2008 for a DWI in Bexar County.

In Austin, Mexican national Juan Jose Esparza Garcia was charged with illegal re-entry. Esparza Garcia who has three prior removals, was found in the Travis County Jail and has been previously convicted of three DWIs, along with theft and improper entry into the U.S.

Benigno Granados Manzano, also an illegal alien from Mexico, was charged with illegal re-entry in Austin and has three DWI convictions in his criminal record. He was also convicted of improper entry in 2015 and has been previously removed from the U.S. three times.

Mexican national Ivan Perez-Saldana was found in the Travis County Jail, where he was in custody after being convicted of domestic assault causing bodily injury. Perez-Saldana was last removed from the U.S. in 2011, following a conviction for improper entry.

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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