The federal court of the Southern District of Texas found Mario Sandoval, a member of the Texas National Guard, guilty of conspiracy to smuggle undocumented immigrants into the United States.

Sandoval, 27, had been deployed to the border as part of Operation Lone Star, implemented by Governor Greg Abbott to secure the country's southern border.

The indictment alleges that Sandoval participated in human trafficking through the Rio Grande Valley, a region that borders the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. During the trial, the prosecution presented compelling evidence, including text messages from Sandoval's cell phone, in which he coordinated the smuggling of immigrants and alerted traffickers to the presence of immigration agents and K-9 patrols.

Furthermore, evidence was shown that the soldier had requested drivers to transport immigrants from the Rio Grande Valley to the north, thus avoiding immigration checkpoints.

Text messages, the key

Sandoval's defense attempted to argue that the text messages were taken out of context and did not reflect criminal activity. However, the jury did not accept these explanations and, after a release that lasted less than an hour, found Sandoval guilty. The sentence could be up to 10 years in federal prison.

Special Agent in Charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in Houston, Chad Plantz, condemned Sandoval's actions, calling her behavior a betrayal of the oath she took when she joined the National Guard. He also stressed that the soldier acted "motivated exclusively by greed," putting national security at risk. Sandoval was discharged from the Texas National Guard in October 2024 after being arrested by the FBI as part of the investigation.