Source: Office of United States Attorneys
LAREDO, Texas – A 36-year-old woman has been ordered to federal prison for attempting to smuggle two Mexican children from Mexico, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Sandra Perez pleaded guilty Nov. 19, 2024.
U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña has now ordered Perez to serve three years in federal prison.
“Smuggling children is absolutely reprehensible,” said Ganjei. “Who knows what awaited these children had the defendant managed to slip past authorities. Fortunately, law enforcement was able to unravel Perez’s false story and stop her smuggling scheme dead in its tracks.”
On Aug. 8, 2024, Perez applied for admission into the United States driving an SUV. She had her three minor U.S. citizen children with her along with two minor Mexican children.
Perez falsely claimed the two Mexican children were also hers and attempted to present Texas birth certificates and Social Security cards that belonged to her two other children as proof.
After the Mexican children failed to answer authorities’ questions, Perez admitted to attempting to bring the Mexican children into the United States to the children’s mother in Fort Worth, knowing that they did not have legal authority to enter the country.
She also admitted she expected to receive $5,000 per child after delivery.
Perez was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Homero Ramirez prosecuted the case.