Texas man sentenced after smuggling more than 2,500 illegal immigrants within 6 months

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A West Texas man will spend years in prison for organizing a smuggling operation involving thousands of illegal immigrants.

Human Smuggling Scheme

The backstory:

According to court documents, 35-year-old Isai Orona, also known as Panda, was identified as the organizer of the human smuggling scheme.

Orona admitted to smuggling over 2,500 undocumented noncitizens within approximately six months in 2023. 

Many car loads of undocumented noncitizens were taken to Albuquerque, New Mexico and on to other locations. He also admitted to having a network of drivers to take undocumented noncitizens in at least 12 vehicles, which he obtained or helped others to obtain.

Orona had been identified in WhatsApp communications, which the organization used for coordinating criminal activity. 

Additionally, when U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a co-conspirator who had been transporting nine undocumented noncitizens in El Paso, the vehicle used was registered to Orona.

Sentencing:

Orona was arrested Nov. 20, 2023. He pleaded guilty on July 12, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and one count of transporting aliens. 

He has been sentenced to 54 months in federal prison.

In addition to Orona’s imprisonment, the court entered a money judgment against him in the amount of $250,000.

The Source: Information in this article is from the U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas.

TexasCrime and Public Safety