Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck announced 446 people face charges in support of Operation Take Back America from April 10 to April 16.
The charges include 169 individuals accused of illegal entry and 242 who allegedly re-entered the United States after prior removal. Authorities also accused 33 people of engaging in human smuggling and charged three others with firearms crimes. Many of the individuals have prior convictions for narcotics, violent crime, sexual offenses, and other immigration violations.
Among the recent cases, authorities charged Yahaniel Somoza of Houston and Fidel Cantu-Mendez of Edinburg with human smuggling. The charges allege Somoza picked up individuals on at least two occasions and transported some to a local mechanic shop. Somoza allegedly took some of their cell phones and instructed them to eat only twice a day. Law enforcement executed a search warrant and discovered 15 people at the mechanic shop. Somoza faces up to 10 years in federal prison upon conviction…