During the week of August 16 to August 22, 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona charged 170 individuals with immigration-related crimes. Of these, 85 cases involved illegal re-entry into the United States, while 70 cases involved illegal entry. Additionally, federal prosecutors filed charges against 15 people in 11 cases related to smuggling activities within Arizona.
The cases were developed with support from several federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Among recent prosecutions:
United States v. Gonzalo Rafael Morales-Jimenez: On August 18, 2025, Gonzalo Rafael Morales-Jimenez was charged by criminal complaint with Re-entry of a Removed Alien. Morales-Jimenez had been previously removed from the United States in 2018 after being convicted of Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, and Theft by Extortion, Aggravated Assault, and Misconduct Involving Weapons, all felony offenses, in the Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County. The Court ordered all terms of incarceration for the various counts to run concurrently with one another, with the longest sentence being over 10 years in prison.
United States v. Alan William Fischbach: On August 19, 2025, Alan William Fischbach and two Mexican nationals, Rosario Robles-Morales and Jose Antonio Florez-Ramirez, were charged by criminal complaint with Conspiracy to Transport and Harbor Illegal Aliens. On August 19, Fischbach was observed picking up two loads of illegal aliens and taking them to a motel in Tucson. Robles-Morales and Florez-Ramirez had served as foot guides for the illegal aliens, leading them across the international border into the United States. In total, 10 smuggled illegal aliens were discovered.
United States v. Pedro Carrillo-Miranda: On August 19, 2025, Pedro Carrillo-Miranda was charged by criminal complaint with Re-entry of a Removed Alien. Carrillo-Miranda had been previously removed from the United States in 2002 after being convicted of Attempted Sexual Abuse, a felony offense, in the Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County. In that case, Carrillo-Miranda was sentenced to three months in prison followed by lifetime probation.
United States v. Cesar Eduardo Parra-Ray: On August 20, 2025, a Department of Public Safety Sergeant stopped Cesar Eduardo Parra-Rey during a traffic stop where he presented his Mexico driver’s license as identification. After speaking with Parra-Rey and suspecting human smuggling activity, authorities determined that while Parra-Rey held a valid Border Crossing Card allowing legal entry into the U.S., his three passengers were Mexican citizens illegally present in the country. Parra-Rey was charged by criminal complaint with Transportation of an Illegal Alien.
United States v. Bryan Valenzuela-Caldera: On August 22, 2025 Bryan Valenzuela-Caldera was charged by criminal complaint with Transportation of an Illegal Alien for Profit after being observed driving near Nogales under suspicious circumstances close to the border on multiple days. When Border Patrol agents attempted a vehicle stop on August 20 based on their observations Valenzuela-Caldera did not yield; he struck another vehicle while trying to evade law enforcement then attempted to flee further before eventually being apprehended on foot after reversing into a Border Patrol vehicle; two illegal aliens were found inside his truck.
These prosecutions are part of Operation Take Back America—a national initiative aimed at using Department of Justice resources to address unlawful immigration and target transnational criminal organizations as well as violent crime through coordination among Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).
A criminal complaint is only an accusation; defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in court.
