El Paso Alien Smuggling Facilitator Sentenced to 110 Months: Smuggled Migrant Seriously Injured in Fence Fall, $672,101 Money Judgment Ordered
A Mexican national was sentenced in federal court in El Paso, Texas, to 110 months in prison for conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in serious bodily injury, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced. Manuel Alejandro Melendez-Cereceres, also known as "Monstro," 42, was a member of an alien smuggling organization.
According to court documents, Melendez-Cereceres recruited and coordinated drivers and vehicles to transport smuggled aliens either to harboring locations or to exchange points where they would be picked up by an additional driver and transported further into the United States. On May 15, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agents in Tornillo interdicted a smuggling event and apprehended a foot guide. During that event, one of the smuggled aliens fell from a fence and suffered serious bodily injuries requiring surgery for a right hip socket fracture, a right hip joint fracture, a sacral fracture and a right heel bone fracture. A search of the foot guide's cell phone revealed communications with Melendez-Cereceres.
Melendez-Cereceres was arrested at his residence in June 2025 and indicted on four counts related to alien smuggling. On June 11, 2026, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in serious bodily injury. In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone ordered a money judgment of $672,101. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mathew Engelbaum prosecuted it.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：德州 El Paso 市中心。CC BY 3.0，经维基共享资源。 / Downtown El Paso, Texas. CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
