Tag: Texas
Marco Antonio Dominguez-Barranco, Alien Smuggling, Texas 2023
⏱ 3 min read In a single week, federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed charges against nearly 300 individuals in immigration and immigration-related criminal cases. The defendants, including alien smugglers and illegal aliens with prior convictions, were brought to justice between August 7 and August 13. The crimes took place at various…
Michael Joseph Branham, Production of Child Pornography, Florida 2024
⏱ 2 min read A 38-year-old Texas man, Michael Joseph Branham, has pleaded guilty to producing child sexual abuse material by secretly recording two minor children in his Florida condominium. The recordings took place between June and December 2024, in the condominium’s bathroom and bedroom, where Branham had installed hidden cameras. The victims, aged 11…
Christopher Wade Garbett, Firearms Possession, Texas 2026
⏱ 2 min read Christopher Wade Garbett, a 40-year-old felon from Nederland, Texas, has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for possessing firearms. On August 12, 2026, U.S. District Judge Michael J. Truncale handed down the sentence after Garbett pleaded guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The case…
Samad Hamid Castro, Oxycodone Distribution, New Jersey 2026
⏱ 2 min read Samad Hamid Castro, a 41-year-old New Jersey man, has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for flooding North Texas neighborhoods with Oxycodone pills. From October 2023 to August 2025, Castro used the dark web to distribute the illicit pills to customers in Fort Worth, Keller, Euless, and other areas.…
Gerard Santellano, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Texas 2024
⏱ 2 min read Gerard Santellano, a 36-year-old convicted felon from Eagle Pass, Texas, was found in possession of a .380 pistol during a lawful traffic stop on September 13, 2024. The stop was made just a week after Santellano was identified as the shooter in an attempted murder. He was arrested on the spot…
Scott Joseph Kopas, Child Pornography Production and Possession, Texas 2026
⏱ 2 min read A 55-year-old Cedar Park man, Scott Joseph Kopas, has been found guilty of producing and possessing child pornography after a federal investigation and trial. The FBI launched an investigation into Kopas’s online activities, which led to the execution of search warrants at his Cedar Park residence and a hotel in Hawaii.…
Maria Lucio, Methamphetamine Smuggling, Texas 2025
⏱ 2 min read A 67-year-old Houston woman, Maria Lucio, has been convicted of smuggling a staggering 98.26 kilos of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico. The crime occurred on December 16, 2025, when Lucio hired a transportation company to import the meth, hidden in 14 vinyl rolls, while she entered the country in…
Jefferson Chancay-Sanchez, Child Pornography Possession and Access, Texas 2025
⏱ 2 min read Jefferson Chancay-Sanchez, a 26-year-old illegal alien from Ecuador, was caught with a hidden app containing child pornography on his cellphone near Uvalde, Texas, on June 15, 2025. Chancay-Sanchez had unlawfully entered the US near the Eagle Pass Port of Entry and was placed under arrest by US Border Patrol agents. A…
Andres Serrano Portillo, Sex Trafficking, Texas 2019
⏱ 2 min read In a shocking case of exploitation, Andres Serrano Portillo, a 25-year-old member of the Forum Park Crips, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking a 16-year-old minor in Houston, Texas. The crimes occurred in October 2019, when Portillo lured the victim on social media and forced her…
Eduardo Aguilera-Gallardo, Reentry into United States without Authorization, Texas 2025
⏱ 3 min read Eduardo Aguilera-Gallardo, a 37-year-old Mexican national, has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States without authorization in Houston, Texas. Aguilera-Gallardo, who was previously removed from the US in 2025, was found in Houston on April 21, 2025, with no authorization to be in the…
