Alamdar Hamdani U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
A Fort Worth woman has been sentenced to federal prison for attempting to smuggle two minors from Mexico into the United States, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Sandra Perez, aged 36, pleaded guilty on November 19, 2024. U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña sentenced her to three years in federal prison.
“Smuggling children is absolutely reprehensible,” said Ganjei. “Who knows what awaited these children had the defendant managed to slip past authorities. Fortunately, law enforcement was able to unravel Perez’s false story and stop her smuggling scheme dead in its tracks.”
The incident occurred on August 8, 2024, when Perez attempted to enter the United States driving an SUV with her three minor U.S. citizen children and two minor Mexican children. She falsely claimed that the Mexican children were hers and presented Texas birth certificates and Social Security cards belonging to her other children as proof.
After the Mexican children failed to respond correctly to authorities' questions, Perez admitted she was trying to bring them into the United States illegally for their mother in Fort Worth and expected a payment of $5,000 per child.
Perez will remain on bond until she voluntarily surrenders at a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility yet to be determined.
The investigation was conducted by Customs and Border Protection, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Homero Ramirez prosecuted the case.
