Juárez man sentenced to prison for human smuggling: DOJ
Gabrielle Lopez
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — A 54-year-old man from Juárez was sentenced in El Paso to 42 months in prison for human smuggling. Thursday, the Justice Department said he used tunnels crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and storm drains. He had legal permanent resident status.
The DOJ said Ricardo Guadalupe Dominguez, along with other members of a human smuggling organization, used underground paths and connecting storm drains to bring people into the U.S. from Mexico. Dominguez facilitated the smuggling by providing cars and tools to tamper storm drains, the department said.
According to the DOJ, Dominguez was identified as being involved with the construction of a cross-border tunnel discovered in January of 2025.
Law enforcement arrested him while trying to cross the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry, the DOJ said. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to bring in migrants in December 2025.
The DOJ said another man and co-defendant, Oscar Ivan Carrillo, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for conspiracy to use a border tunnel. The department said Carrillo and others would guide migrants through the tunnels into the U.S. At the exit, a box truck with a trap door would drive over a manhole cover for them to climb into.
Courtesy: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas
The Justice Department said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.