Overview

• Enrique Jauregui, 26, received a 33-month federal prison term and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for organizing the plot and recruiting co-conspirators.
• Angel Palma, 21, and Emilio Mendoza Lopez, 22, each drew 24-month sentences for driving migrants under Jauregui’s direction.
• All three defendants pleaded guilty in early 2025 and face three years of supervised release after completing their prison terms.
• On Nov. 27, 2024, the soldiers picked up one Mexican and two Guatemalan nationals near Presidio, Texas, before leading agents on a high-speed chase that injured a Border Patrol officer.
• The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol and the Army Criminal Investigation Division as part of the Justice Department’s Operation Take Back America initiative.