CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A South Texas man has received the maximum sentence allowed under U.S. law for illegally transporting unlawfully present noncitizens following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Corpus Christi, the U.S. Border Patrol and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Isaac Jake Gonzalez, a 21-year-old resident of Pharr, was sentenced Sept. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to five years in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. Gonzales pleaded guilty to the charges on March 30, 2023.
“This young man and his co-conspirators are responsible for smuggling more than 100 noncitizens into the U.S., including some in locked tractor trailers under excruciating conditions,” said HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Mark Dawson. “Even after he was caught by authorities and released on bond, he continued to smuggle noncitizens in direct defiance of our system of laws. By ordering him to serve the maximum prison sentence allowed, we are sending a resounding message to him and every other human smuggler out there preying on the vulnerability of migrants, that the law enforcement community will track you down and you will be punished to the full extent of the law.”
The investigation into Gonzalez began in 2021, after authorities launched an investigation into an organization that was believed to have smuggled thousands of noncitizens into the U.S. using tractor trailers. Law enforcement ultimately identified Gonzalez and his brother-in-law Anthony Williams, a 27-year-old resident of Pharr, as coordinators responsible for recruiting drivers. On Dec. 6, 2022, authorities arrested Gonzalez and three other co-conspirators after they delivered six unlawfully present noncitizens to a warehouse where a tractor trailer was waiting to smuggle them north.
At the hearing, the court heard evidence that while on bond, Gonzalez continued to smuggle noncitizens and allegedly trafficked a 15-year-old girl for commercial sex, which resulted in a revocation of his bond. The court also heard Gonzalez was responsible for smuggling unaccompanied minors and that, in some cases, the undocumented people were locked in trailers where the refrigeration was not working. In total, the investigation identified approximately 115 noncitizens that Gonzalez was responsible for smuggling into the United States.
Williams was previously sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
Gonzalez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara J. De Peña prosecuted the case.