A Mexican national residing illegally in Lufkin, Texas, has admitted to immigration violations in the Eastern District of Texas. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.
Rigoberto Rodriguez-Moreno, 44, pleaded guilty to illegal reentry after deportation before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christine L. Stetson on June 16, 2025.
Court documents revealed that on March 4, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security and Investigations (HSI) received information about Rodriguez-Moreno's detention at the Angelina County Jail under a state arrest warrant. An HSI investigation found that he had been deported from the United States to Mexico on October 4, 2017, without permission to return.
Immigration records show this was Rodriguez-Moreno's second deportation; the first occurred in 1999. He has prior federal convictions for bringing in and harboring illegal aliens in 1999 and illegal reentry by a deported person in 2015.
Rodriguez-Moreno could face up to 20 years in federal prison and subsequent deportation upon sentencing. The maximum statutory sentence is provided for informational purposes only; actual sentencing will be determined by the court based on advisory guidelines and other factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled following a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office. Additionally, Rodriguez-Moreno faces unrelated state charges in Angelina County.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime perpetrators. The operation coordinates efforts from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The case was investigated by Lufkin Homeland Security Investigations and the Angelina County Sheriff's Office and prosecuted by the Lufkin Division of the U.S Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas.
