Leigha Simonton, United States Attorney, Northern District of Texas | U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas
An individual identified as an illegal alien and convicted felon has been charged with federal firearm offenses, according to a statement by Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Chad E. Meacham.
The accused, Manuel Najera-Garcia, a Mexican citizen, was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 26, 2025. The charges include one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Najera-Garcia appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rebecca Rutherford on March 26, 2025, where he was ordered to be detained.
The indictment states that on December 22, 2024, Najera-Garcia had in his possession a .38-caliber revolver following his felony conviction in 2012. It is alleged that after serving his sentence for the felony offense and returning to Mexico, he re-entered the United States before being found with the firearm in December.
It is important to note that an indictment serves as an allegation and not proof of criminal activity. "Mr. Najera-Garcia is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law." If found guilty, he could face up to 15 years in federal prison for each charge.
The investigation was carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Dallas Field Division along with the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted Hocter is responsible for prosecuting this case.
This legal action falls under Operation Take Back America—a national initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration and dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). The operation consolidates efforts from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) to safeguard communities against violent crime perpetrators.
