Gunpoint extortion of migrants leads to 38-year prison sentence

McALLEN, Texas - A 26-year-old McAllen man has been sentenced on multiple counts of hostage taking, smuggling and weapons charges, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

A federal jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning the guilty verdict Nov. 8, 2023, on all counts against Heriberto Mendez-Lozano following a three-day trial.

U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez has now ordered Mendez-Lozano to serve 360 months in federal prison for committing hostage taking and human smuggling. He also received 160 months for being a felon in possession of a firearm which must be served in part consecutively to the other sentence imposed. The total 460-month prison term will be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence that detailed how the violent threats and coercion of the vulnerable migrant victims has had a lasting impact on their lives. In handing down the sentence, the court noted that Mendez-Lozano's violent criminal history, coupled with his violent threats and actions in this case, warranted a significant sentence.

"After illegally navigating vulnerable migrants across the Southern border, human smugglers, like Mendez-Lozano, tend to graduate to hostage-taking," said Hamdani. "He and others asserted control over the migrants and held them at gunpoint, subjecting them to trauma and terror over the course of several days. They used fear to force the migrants' families to pay money for their release. Today, some small measure of justice has been secured for these heinous acts as Mendez-Lozano goes from former hostage-taker to current federal prisoner."

"Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) vehemently condemns human smugglers who exploit the vulnerabilities of migrants with threats and acts of violence," said Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee, HSI San Antonio. "HSI is at the forefront of investigating these human smugglers who attempt to plague the southwest border. We remain committed to bringing to justice the criminal organizations who prey on the vulnerable with no regard for the well-being of the people they smuggle."

During the trial, the jury heard evidence that on Sept. 29, 2022, Mendez-Lozano and others to include Lorenzo Campbell and Heriberto Aguirre were engaged in smuggling migrants from near the Rio Grande River further into the United States.

On that date, the group was harboring five undocumented aliens. Instead of transporting the aliens further into the United States, Mendez-Lozano and his co-conspirators held the aliens against their will at a location in Donna.

There, Mendez-Lozano and Aguirre brandished firearms, held guns to the heads and ribs of hostages, threatened the hostages and forced them to call family members to demand money for their release.

The investigation led law enforcement to the location in Donna where they arrested Mendez-Lozano, who had a pending warrant for aggravated robbery, along with Campbell. Authorities also rescued the hostages from the scene. Aguirre was arrested at a nearby motel.

Judge Alvarez previously sentenced Campbell, 23, Pharr, to 18 months in federal prison, while Aguirre, 25, Mission, received a 240-month-term of imprisonment. Both will be required to serve two years of supervised release following their respective prison terms.

Mendez-Lozano will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

HSI conducted the investigation with the assistance of Border Patrol (BP), U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hidalgo County Sherriff's Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Colton Turner and Theodore Parran prosecuted the case as part of the Human Smuggling Prevention Program (HSPP). The primary goal of HSPP is to disrupt and dismantle human smuggling organizations on our Southwest Border through close cooperation with HSI, BP, Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations and local law enforcement partners.