Source: Office of United States Attorneys
SAN ANTONIO – Acting United States Attorney Margaret Leachman announced today that federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas have filed more than 900 immigration and immigration-related criminal cases since Jan. 20. These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.
Along with enhanced interdiction efforts at the border, federal law enforcement has been also prioritizing immigration enforcement operations and prosecutions of aliens unlawfully in the interior of the country and also those otherwise engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, who have active warrants for their arrest, or who have outstanding final orders of removal from the U.S., issued by an immigration judge. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect us all.
Cases of interest include the arrest of Juan Ramon Hernandez-Limon in San Antonio, who had been previously convicted on April 28, 2021 for illegal re-entry into the United States and alien in possession of a firearm, and a second time on Feb. 8, 2024 for illegal re-entry. Hernandez-Limon repeatedly attempted to evade arrest during an ICE ERO operation on Jan. 26, 2025, and was eventually taken into custody. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison, if convicted.
Guatemalan nationals Anderson Morales-Calderon and Ever Morales-Calderon were arrested on Jan. 24 in Waco on criminal charges related to their alleged aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm as undocumented noncitizens. Troy Police Department and Lorena Police Department officers were responding to a road rage complaint called into 911. The 911 caller alleged that an individual pointed a rifle at a semi-truck on IH-35. During the traffic stop, officers observed two air rifles and one .22 caliber rifle in plain view in the back seat and on the back floorboard of the vehicle. Further investigation revealed that both Anderson and Ever Morales-Calderon were unlawfully present in the United States. If convicted, they each face up to 10 years in federal prison.
Honduran national Melvin Armando Funes-Canales was transferred to federal custody after he was located in the Williamson County jail, where he had been detained for alleged possession of a controlled substance. An investigation revealed Funes-Canales had been previously removed from the U.S. to Honduras on or about Oct. 9, 2020, and had also been deported on five other occasions. Additionally, Funes-Canales was previously convicted of burglary, grand theft and illegal re-entry. He now faces up to 10 years in federal prison for illegal re-entry, if convicted.
Four individuals illegally present in the U.S. were arrested in El Paso and face up to 10 years in federal prison each for criminal charges related to their alleged involvement in a human smuggling conspiracy. Yair Alejandro Aguilar-Flores, Angel Eduardo Carrillo-Carrillo, Jorge Alfredo Lopez-Acevedo, and Jesus David Reyes-Villagran allegedly conspired to harbor 12 illegal aliens in two El Paso hotels.
A Mexican national was indicted by a federal grand jury in Austin for one count of possession of a firearm by illegal alien. Marcelo Olvera-Moreno was stopped while driving in Hutto, Jan. 24. A Williamson Country Sheriff’s Office deputy conducted the traffic stop after allegedly observing the passenger in Olvera-Moreno’s vehicle fire a handgun from the front passenger window. Olvera-Moreno admitted to law enforcement that he knew that he was illegally and unlawfully in the U.S. and that he had purchased the pistol at a flea market approximately three months prior. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
“Because the Western District of Texas shares 660 miles of common border with Mexico and is home to three of Texas’ largest cities and an estimated 7.6 million people, prosecuting immigration and border-related crimes has long been and remains a priority within this district,” said Leachman. “With the valuable investigative and enforcement efforts of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, this U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting immigration-related crimes in the interest of the nation and our citizens.”
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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