Brownsville Man Gets 20 Years for Hostage-Taking

Brownsville man Reynaldo Lerma-Pichardo, 24, is headed to federal prison for nearly 20 years after being convicted of human smuggling and hostage taking. U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced the sentencing, marking the end of a brutal operation that kept undocumented immigrants trapped in fear.

On Feb. 15, 2017, U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera sentenced Lerma-Pichardo to 235 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The sentence stems from events on or about Nov. 22, 2015, when the Brownsville Police Department responded to a 911 call that led them to a squalid apartment packed with nine undocumented aliens held against their will.

Victims told Border Patrol agents they were forbidden from leaving unless they paid additional money to Lerma-Pichardo. The apartment served as a holding cell in a larger human smuggling ring run out of private homes by Lerma-Pichardo and accomplices Leticia Lerma-Pichardo, Juan Carlos Meza-Hinojosa, and Cynthia Yadira Deantes.

Investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) uncovered even darker crimes. Agents determined that Reynaldo Lerma-Pichardo had sexually assaulted one of the women being held in the apartment, adding a layer of violence to the already heinous operation.

Leticia Lerma-Pichardo, 47, a legal permanent resident of Brownsville, was sentenced to 37 months. Co-defendant Juan Carlos Meza-Hinojosa, a 38-year-old Mexican citizen, received 22 months. Cynthia Yadira Deantes, 23, is scheduled for sentencing next week.

The case was investigated by HSI with support from BP and the Brownsville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana Cano prosecuted. The conviction underscores the violent reality behind human smuggling networks operating in South Texas.

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