A 52-year-old Honduran woman who led a human smuggling organization was sentenced this week to 10 years in prison by a federal judge in Tucson.
Maria Mendoza-Mendoza, who was known as โLa Guera,โ was the leader of an organization that smuggled more than 100 people from Honduras to the United States. She coordinated the movement of migrants to the US-Mexico border and to stash houses in Phoenix where migrants would be detained until their smuggling fees were paid, the Department of Justice said in a news release. The organization collected millions of dollars from the fees, the agency said.
Mendoza-Mendoza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport migrants for profit. Federal District Judge Raner C. Collins on Tuesday sentenced her to 120 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, the news release said.
โThis defendant exploited vulnerable migrants for her own profit, risking their lives and our national security in the process. Together with our partners across the federal government, the Justice Department will continue our efforts to dismantle and disrupt human smuggling networks like those the defendant operated,โ Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in the news release.
Mendoza-Mendoza was indicted in January 2018 and was extradited to Tucson from Honduras in June 2023.
In determining Mendoza-Mendozaโs prison sentence, Judge Collins found that the conspiracy involved several aggravating factors. Those included smuggling unaccompanied minors, firearm possession, intentionally or recklessly creating a substantial risk of death and detaining migrants through coercion or threats while demanding payment, the release said.
