AUSTIN, Texas — A Guatemalan man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for his role in a human smuggling operation that held nine people hostage in Austin, including a pregnant woman and her young child.
Edwin Alfredo Barrientos-Mateo, 23, also known as “Waches,” pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said.
According to the attorney’s office, Barrientos-Mateo and co-conspirator Nelson Abilio Castro-Zelaya were arrested at an Austin apartment where nine people were being held as part of a smuggling scheme. Among those detained were a man, his pregnant wife and their 7-year-old child…