CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A 49-year-old resident of Weslaco has been ordered to federal prison after admitting to transporting illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
Jose Roberto Pompa pleaded guilty May 6.
Today, U.S. District Judge David S. Morales ordered Pompa to serve a 41-month sentence to be immediately followed by two years of supervised release.
On April 29, Pompa drove a covered grain hauler through the Sarita Border Patrol (BP) checkpoint, at which time a K-9 alerted to the vehicle. Authorities then referred Pompa to secondary inspection. They rolled back the cover on the trailer and utilized the built-in ladder to climb down and check. They ultimately found 48 people concealed inside the grain hauler. All were all determined to be illegally present in the United States from the countries of El Salvador, Cuba, Honduras, Peru, Mexico and Guatemala. One was an unaccompanied 15-year-old from Guatemala.
Pompa was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility in early 2021.
BP conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gould prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
