(The Center Square) – Mexican nationals illegally living in the U.S. have been sentenced or convicted of committing narcotics trafficking and identity theft in the Southern District of Texas.
In one case, 41-year-old Mexican national Rolando Banda-Lucero was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for trafficking more than $1.2 million worth of cocaine. He faces removal proceedings after his prison term is completed.
Banda-Lucero “did not have status to be in the country and got involved in narcotics trafficking for money,” the court held, noting that he played a “clear role as a courier.”
On Oct. 25, 2023, Banda-Lucero was arrested in a drug bust in the border town of Pharr. Authorities conducted surveillance at a shopping center, observing him exiting the passenger side of a van and giving a duffel bag full of cocaine to someone he thought was a purchaser but was an undercover DEA agent. The bag contained 20 bundles weighing 22.5 kilograms that tested positive for cocaine.
In two other recent cases, Mexican nationals were convicted of identity theft.
In one case, 42-year-old Mexican national Carlos Bedolla Sanchez, who was illegally living in Houston, was sentenced for fraudulently using a passport and identification belonging to a U.S. citizen.
An investigation revealed that he began using the identity of a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico in March 2009 to obtain a state driver’s licenses and other U.S. identification, including a passport. In May 2022, he was caught after attempting to renew his passport and later admitted to making a false statement in the application and use of passport and aggravated identity theft.
He pleaded guilty on March 18; he was just sentenced to 16 months in prison for fraudulently using a passport and 24 months for using the identification of a U.S. citizen, with the sentences running consecutively.
Because Sanchez was previously convicted of two felony drug charges using the false identity, he was also sentenced to 12 months for violating the term of supervised release. This sentence will run concurrently with the others. He faces removal proceedings after his prison term is completed.
In another case, 38-year-old Mexican national Jose Martin Valdez-Galvan was just found guilty by a jury in Laredo of illegally reentering the U.S. under an assumed identity. The jury deliberated for four hours before convicting him after a two-day trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Last June, Valdez-Galvan was arrested in Laredo after providing a false name and claiming to be a U.S. citizen. He stole the identity of someone else “to avoid previous charges for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle,” an investigation found.
During the trial, testimony revealed that Valdez-Galvan “was an illegal alien who had been previously removed” and illegally reentered the U.S. “He had assumed the other person’s identity in 2015 after his second removal.”
During the trial, he admitted to using a false name; his mother testified that his name “was something else despite evidence she had previously identified him” using the false name.
“Both public safety and basic common sense require us to know who is entering and residing in our country. Those that adopt false or stolen personas to hide their identities pose an increased criminal risk to our community,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said.
“Theft of an American citizen’s identity by a foreign national will not be tolerated, and those that engage in such criminality will be charged, punished, and, if appropriate, deported.”
His sentencing is set for a later date. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
