Silvino Herrera-Munoz, a Guatemalan national residing illegally in the United States, was sentenced on Jul. 31 to 102 months in federal prison after being convicted of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. The sentence was announced by Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and handed down by United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky.
Herrera-Munoz, 34, from North Little Rock, was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 4, 2025. He pleaded guilty to the charge on January 12, 2026. In addition to his prison term, Judge Rudofsky ordered three years’ supervised release for Herrera-Munoz. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to the investigation, on February 2, 2025, a concerned citizen called 911 reporting that a vehicle traveling eastbound on Interstate 30 near Geyer Springs had its driver firing five to seven shots out of the window while erratically changing speeds and brake checking a tractor trailer. The caller followed until an Arkansas State Police Trooper stopped Herrera-Munoz’s vehicle. Upon approach, officers detected alcohol odor and measured his blood-alcohol content at .12—above Arkansas’s legal limit.
The Trooper found a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber firearm and spent shell casing inside the car; two more casings were recovered nearby on Interstate 30 and confirmed as fired from this weapon. Authorities noted that Herrera-Munoz has two prior convictions for driving while intoxicated.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America—a nationwide Department of Justice initiative aiming to address illegal immigration and related violent crime through coordinated efforts against cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led the investigation with support from Arkansas State Police and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Crews prosecuted the case. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas prosecutes federal crimes across its jurisdiction—including community safety initiatives—and operates from Little Rock across Northern, Central and Delta divisions covering forty-one counties as part of the U.S Department of Justice’s mission, according to its official website.