McALLEN, Texas – Four South Texas residents pled guilty this week for their roles in separate but connected illegal operations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said.
The residents are originally from Mission and are all related through blood or marriage.
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All four entered their guilty pleas in connection with a conspiracy to launder more than $2 million in monetary instruments, authorities said. Additionally, two of the four Mission residents — identified as 36-year-old Luis Enrique Moctezuma-Acosta and 35-year-old Scarlett Fuentes-Gavarrette — also submitted guilty pleas related to a human smuggling operation.
Moctezuma-Acosta and Fuentes-Gavarrette are husband and wife, the attorney’s office said.
The Department of Justice said its investigation into Moctezuma-Acosta and Fuentes-Gavarrette’s sophisticated migrant smuggling network was a yearslong endeavor. In November 2019, the network transported approximately 300 undocumented migrants along the couple’s network that connected from Honduras and ran as far north as Boston, Massachusetts.
The DOJ said the network transported primarily Brazilian people via commercial aircraft, 18-wheelers and other methods.
Federal authorities executed a search warrant in March 2023 at the couple’s properties where they seized more than $1.5 million in cash. What was seized, officials said, included a home and a car dealership which was allegedly operated as a front business. In total, authorities said they seized more than $2.5 million in assets, luxury vehicles, jewelry and land.
Elizabeth Acosta, 52, and Keysi Fuentes-Gavarrette, 27, pled guilty to the money laundering charge.
All four will remain in custody ahead of their sentencing date, which is June 6. They all could face up to 20 years in federal prison for the money laundering charge.
Scarlett Fuentes-Gavarrette and Luis Enrique Moctezuma-Acosta could both face an additional 20 years in federal prison in connection with the human smuggling charge.
Convictions could also carry fines of up to $250,000, the DOJ said.