South Texas human smuggler gets 71-month enhanced sentence

MCALLEN, Texas — A Mexican national was sentenced Tuesday to nearly six years as a result of his conviction of harboring undocumented aliens.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Border Patrol (BP) and the Edinburg, Texas, Police Department.

Oscar Ivan Romero-Martinez, 33, of Tamaulipas, Mexico, was sentenced to 71 months in prison for his offenses. His sentence was enhanced as the court took into consideration the testimony of a female illegal alien from Guatemala, whom Romero sexually assaulted on more than one occasion while he harbored her at a location in Mission, Texas. The court also considered the total number of aliens he had harbored and that a co-conspirator had brandished a dangerous weapon while the aliens were being harbored. Romero pleaded guilty to his crimes on Aug. 6.

According to court documents, on or about June 30, 2015, CBP officers were conducting surveillance at an apartment complex in Mission, Texas when they observed a parked car that had been reported stolen from Edinburg. The officers notified local authorities who responded to the location and soon encountered Romero. He fled on foot, but was subsequently apprehended. A total of 16 illegal aliens were ultimately discovered in one of the apartments where Romero had been harboring them. 

During the course of the investigation, authorities learned that Hector De Leon-Ramirez had transported the female undocumented alien from Brownsville to Mission. He was subsequently charged with harboring additional undocumented aliens in a building in Mission and pleaded guilty Sept. 2, 2015. De Leon, 44, a citizen of Mexico who held permanent resident alien status and was living in Penitas, later received a sentence of 18 months imprisonment.