The leader of a human smuggling organization, Maria Mendoza-Mendoza, aka “La Guera,” pleaded guilty this week to Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens for Profit.
The sentencing hearing for the 51-year-old “La Guera” from Honduras, is scheduled for April 2, 2024. A conviction for Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens for Profit carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
According to the Department of Justice, Mendoza-Mendoza admitted that she was a leader of a smuggling organization that smuggled over 100 migrants from Honduras into the United States, and that, as a leader, she coordinated alien smuggling and money laundering events.
Mendoza-Mendoza admitted she told a co-conspirator she would “bleed out” a guide as punishment and that she stated that a migrant whose family did not pay his fee would be thrown “back in the desert.” She also admitted that the smuggling organization used firearms and that the smuggling involved dangerous risks to the migrants.
The government of Honduras extradited Mendoza-Mendoza to the United States in June 2023 to face these charges.