Fort Worth woman sentenced for smuggling minors from Mexico
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection patch is displayed on the arm of an officer on September 28, 2024 (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
LAREDO, Texas - A 36-year-old Fort Worth woman has been sentenced to federal prison for trying to smuggle two Mexican children from Mexico into the United States. She was trying to take them to their mother in Fort Worth, according to what she told officers at the border.
Smuggling children into the U.S.
The backstory:
On Aug. 8, 2024, Sandra Perez applied for admission into the United States driving an SUV. She had her three minor U.S. citizen children with her, along with two minor Mexican children.
Perez falsely claimed the two Mexican children were also hers and tried to present Texas birth certificates and Social Security cards that belonged to her two other children as proof.
After the Mexican children failed to answer the authorities’ questions, Perez admitted to trying to bring the Mexican children into the United States to the children’s mother in Fort Worth, knowing that they did not have legal authority to enter the country.
She also admitted she expected to receive $5,000 per child after delivery.
Perez pleaded guilty Nov. 19, 2024.
U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña sentenced Perez to serve three years in federal prison.
Perez was allowed to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
What they're saying:
"Smuggling children is absolutely reprehensible," said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. "Who knows what awaited these children had the defendant managed to slip past authorities. Fortunately, law enforcement was able to unravel Perez’s false story and stop her smuggling scheme dead in its tracks."
The Source: Information in this article is from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas.