Juan Gomez Montiel, Alien Smuggling, New Mexico 2024

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A federal jury has convicted an El Paso man of coordinating an alien smuggling operation that brought individuals, including an unaccompanied minor, from Mexico into the United States through southern New Mexico and Texas.

Juan Gomez Montiel, 32, was found guilty of conspiracy to bring in and transport illegal aliens, bringing in an illegal alien for financial gain, and transporting an illegal alien, according to court documents and evidence presented at trial.

According to the evidence, in March 2024, Gomez Montiel coordinated the smuggling of a material witness from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, into the United States for $2,200. The witness was transported to a tire shop in El Paso, Texas, where Gomez Montiel met them, asked whether the trip had gone smoothly, and paid the foot guide for his role in the smuggling operation.

Gomez Montiel also contacted the witness in the following months seeking payment of the remaining $500 smuggling fee. Additional testimony established that in August 2024, Gomez Montiel coordinated the transportation of an unaccompanied minor from a stash house in El Paso to Albuquerque, New Mexico, using a driver who was, unbeknownst to Gomez Montiel, an undercover Texas Department of Public Safety agent.

Gomez Montiel was convicted of conspiracy to bring in and transport illegal aliens, bringing in an illegal alien for financial gain, and transporting an illegal alien. Following the verdict, the Court ordered that Gomez Montiel be detained pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled. At sentencing, Gomez Montiel faces no less than three years and up to 10 years in prison.

The investigation and indictment were supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha, the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy Castellano and Devon Aragon-Martinez are prosecuting this case, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/el-paso-man-convicted-alien-smuggling-conspiracy-part-homeland-security-task-force