Last of 6 South Texas hostage-taking defendants sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison
Defendant carried a pistol and or rifle to intimate illegal aliens while they waited to head north
MCALLEN, Texas — A South Texas man was sentenced Tuesday to more than 13 years in federal prison following his conviction for an alien hostage-taking scheme.
This sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez, Southern District of Texas. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Border Patrol.
Juan Perez-Alcoser, 21, from Mission, was sentenced Nov. 28 by U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez to 160 months in prison. At the hearing, Judge Alvarez noted that Perez-Alcoser’s behavior was slightly less culpable than the other defendants, but that it was still a serious matter. “People were stolen like merchandise,” she noted. “You’re selling people to make money,” she added when comparing the criminal behavior to that of slavery.
Perez-Alcoser pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit hostage taking. The following other defendants had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit hostage taking in the same case: Luis Aguilar Jr., 19; brothers Alhan Sanchez, 20, and Aaron Sanchez, 21, and Ricardo Renteria, 26, all of Mission; and Renteria’s nephew Ricardo Renteria-Rivera, 23, an illegal alien from Mexico.
“Tuesday’s sentencing clearly illustrates the serious consequences faced by those who attempt to make money by exploiting others,” said Shane Folden, special agent in charge of HSI San Antonio. "Human smugglers continue to show a callous disregard for the value of human life. HSI will continue to aggressively pursue these criminal networks who put the lives of others in jeopardy for financial gain. We will not let up our efforts to disrupt and dismantle their illicit pathways and leverage our resources to work together with our law enforcement partners to pursue justice."
According to court documents, on Sept. 5, 2017, the court ordered Aguilar to serve 350 months in federal prison; brothers Alhan and Aaron Sanchez received 324 and 195 months, respectively. Renteria-Rivera was ordered to serve a 290-month sentence; his uncle was sentenced to 300 months in prison.
Aguilar Jr.’s father, Luis Aguilar, 64, and Jose Luis Rodriguez-Melchor, 30, both pleaded guilty to illegally re-entering the United States after being deported and to harboring an illegal alien; they were sentenced to 97 and 105 months in federal prison, respectively. They and Renteria-Rivera will face deportation proceedings following their release from prison. The other defendants, including Perez-Alcoser, were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following their release from prison.
This investigation revealed that a group of smuggled illegal aliens had been held at a stash house awaiting further transportation north. On the night of May 2, 2016, a home invasion crew that included an armed Aguilar Jr. entered the stash house and demanded the illegal aliens leave with them. The stash house caretaker was held to the ground and threatened with a gun to his head. The smuggled illegal aliens were then taken by the invasion crew to another location where their cellphones and most of their belongings were taken from them.
Some of these smuggled aliens were taken to Aguilar Jr.’s residence which he shared with his father. While there, Aguilar Jr. told them that their initial smuggling arrangements were no good anymore and they had to make new arrangements with him. Aguilar Jr. held them at gunpoint and demanded the smuggled illegal aliens give him the names and phone numbers of family members whom he then called to demand $2,000 for their release.
After receiving the money demanded, Aguilar Jr. turned the illegal aliens over to Rodriguez-Melchor to arrange for smuggling the aliens further north. Instead, however, Rodriguez-Melchor sold the smuggled aliens to Renteria-Rivera for $200 each. Their family members were again called and told they must send additional monies to secure their release. The Renterias carried weapons and threatened to shoot the aliens if anyone tried to escape. Perez-Alcoser was living at the Renteria residence during this time and watched over the illegal aliens while the Renterias were absent, at times carrying a pistol or a rifle. Renteria helped pick up the money and then took the illegal aliens to a parking lot in McAllen where they were supposed to sneak into the air dams of tractor-trailers.
Instead of doing so, three of the smuggled illegal aliens turned themselves in to Border Patrol. On May 18, 2016, authorities executed three search warrants. At that time, they seized firearms from the Aguilar, Sanchez and Renteria residences. All the defendants were eventually located and arrested.
Perez-Alcoser remains in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Leonard, Southern District of Texas, is prosecuting this case.
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