HARLINGEN, Texas (Border Report) — A 21-year-old resident of Laredo has been sentenced to five years in prison for smuggling over 100 migrants across the border, including unaccompanied children, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said Thursday.
Juan Francisco Reyna pleaded guilty in January to conspiring to transport and harbor illegal aliens within the United States.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison has now ordered Reyna to serve 63 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by one year of supervised release. The sentence included additional time for bringing in children, reckless endangerment and being a “leader/organizer in the conspiracy,” Ganjei said.
“If you engage in these crimes, if you break our nation’s immigration laws, you will be caught and you will be punished. Simple as that,” Ganjei said.
Law enforcement say Reyna had been involved in human smuggling for at least five years. From 2019 to 2023, he was repeatedly caught attempting to move individuals through the Interstate 35 Border Patrol checkpoint north of Laredo. Reyna was also linked to the operation of multiple stash houses in the Laredo area and one his family operated in San Antonio, officials told the court.
He recruited and paid others to harbor and transport migrants across the United States to cities in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia and Florida. He also hired co-conspirators to collect and return bulk cash proceeds after the individuals reached their final destinations, Ganjei said.
He moved migrants in tractor-trailers, box trucks, trains and even horse trailers, and coordinated with co-conspirators in Mexico, according to court documents.
His cellphone contained information on dozens of immigrants illegally in the United States, including photos, names, identifying details and countries of origin. Several were minors between the ages of 14 and 17, Ganjei says.
He also used Facebook to coordinate smuggling operations and for recruiting and communicating with others. For that, he was also charged with exploiting social media.
Officials say he paid “scout” drivers to monitor the I-35 checkpoint and report on traffic backups and weather conditions, and recommend the safest lanes to use. Messages revealed Reyna deliberately scheduled smuggling runs during fog, storms, rain and cold temperatures to reduce the likelihood of detection.
It is well known that when traffic backs up at the checkpoint — also commonly called “Checkpoint Charley” — that Border Patrol agents will sometimes waive through vehicles to prevent further backups on the busy interstate.
Currently U.S. Customs and Border Protection is preparing to expand the checkpoint and add additional lanes to prevent backups.
Officials say that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Reyna advised a driver to tell Border Patrol agents at the checkpoint that they were going to medical appointments to expedite their passage.
He also designed walking routes through remote brush areas to bypass the checkpoints entirely. Load drivers were instructed to drop off individuals before the checkpoint, forcing them to walk four to five hours before being picked up on the other side.
The San Antonio stash house linked to Reyna had harbored more than 30 migrants who were awaiting transport. In April 2023, law enforcement apprehended multiple people at the location and seized over $56,000 in cash, and ammunition.
Reyna was arrested on Nov. 7, 2024, after he picked up some migrants at a warehouse in north Laredo. He led law enforcement on a four-minute chase through traffic and tried to escape on foot.
He was arrested with five others including an unaccompanied minor who were all illegally in the United States.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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