Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Burlington, Vermont – The United States Attorney’s Office stated that Saul Mazariegos-Estrada, 29, of El Tejar, Guatemala, has been charged by criminal complaint with the illegal transportation of aliens, and that Byron Sicajau Socoy, 40, of El Tejar, Guatemala, and Christian Rafael Hernandez Villa, 34, of Jalisco, Mexico, have been charged by criminal complaint with being aliens who eluded examination or inspection by immigration officers. The term “alien” is defined by statute to mean a person who is not a citizen or national of the United States.
On January 27, 2025, all three defendants appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle. Judge Doyle ordered that Mazariegos-Estrada be detained pending a detention hearing. At their initial appearances, Sicajau Socoy and Hernandez Villa pleaded guilty to the allegations in their respective criminal complaints and received time-served sentences. Sicajau Socoy and Hernandez Villa had faced up to 6 months’ imprisonment.
According to court records, on January 25, 2025, at approximately 9:15 a.m., U.S. Border Patrol agents received a report from a concerned citizen who had observed multiple subjects crossing a remote dirt road approximately one mile south of the United States-Canada border in the area of Newport, Vermont.
Border Patrol agents responded to the area and discovered footprints in the snow where the concerned citizen had reported the crossing. Shortly thereafter, Border Patrol agents conducting surveillance in the area observed a vehicle travelling at a high rate of speed on a remote driveway. Border Patrol agents began following the vehicle, which had Virginia license plates. Agents observed multiple individuals in the back seat and noted that the windows of the vehicle were foggy, which to the agents indicated that the passengers had been exhausting energy, features which the agents had observed in multiple other human smuggling events.
Border Patrol agents stopped the vehicle and encountered, in the front seat, Mazariegos-Estrada, who stated that he was a Guatemalan citizen and that he did not possess immigration documents to enter or remain in the United States. In the rear, agents encountered Sicajau Socoy and Hernandez Villa, who both admitted to illegally entering the United States and that neither had immigration documents allowing them to enter or remain in the United States. All three were taken into custody and transported to the Border Patrol Station.
The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that a criminal complaint contains allegations only and that Mazariegos-Estrada is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. Mazariegos-Estrada faces up to five years’ imprisonment if convicted. The actual sentence, however, would be determined by the District Court with guidance from the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors.
Acting United States Attorney Michael P. Drescher commended the investigatory efforts of the United States Border Patrol.
The prosecutors are Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan A. Ophardt and Andrew C. Gilman. Mazariegos-Estrada is represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Emily Kenyon. Sicajau Socoy was represented by Jason J. Sawyer, Esq., and Hernandez Villa was represented by Kevin M. Henry, Esq.