Rachel C. Hernandez Acting United States Attorney for the District of Arizona | U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona
Ivan Mauricio Hernandez-Mosqueda, a 32-year-old Mexican national from Penjamo, Guanajuato, Mexico, has been sentenced to 46 months in prison. The sentencing, carried out by United States District Judge Krissa M. Lanham on April 2, 2025, was for the offense of conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to unlawfully enter the United States.
According to court documents, federal agents identified that more than 100 individuals used Hernandez-Mosqueda’s organization to be illegally smuggled into the U.S. through Arizona. It started in early 2023, when U.S. Border Patrol agents began encountering Mexican nationals entering the United States illegally, claiming asylum. Several of these encounters involved family units who identified Hernandez-Mosqueda as a guide from Penjamo to Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico. From Sonoyta, associates of Hernandez-Mosqueda smuggled the immigrants into the United States. Referral to Hernandez-Mosqueda occurred through social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp by individuals previously smuggled by his organization.
Hernandez-Mosqueda not only coordinated their illegal entry but also coached them on how to claim asylum under false pretenses to acquire legal status in the United States.
The investigation was led by Customs and Border Protection’s United States Border Patrol Sector Intelligence Unit. The prosecution was managed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stuart Zander and Matthew Doyle from the District of Arizona, Phoenix.
For further details, visit the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona’s website.
