The leader of the San Antonio people-smuggling operation has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison

DEL RIO, Texas – A federal judge in Del Rio this week sentenced a man behind a San Antonio-based people-smuggling operation.

The Justice Department said Roberto Galeas-Mejia will spend 360 months — or 30 years — in a federal prison.

The 48-year-old was convicted of three charges inside a courtroom in July 2022: conspiracy to transport illegal migrants, conspiracy to harbor illegal migrants and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

The operation was profitable for Galeas-Mejia, who used the money to rent hidden houses, buy cars and pass through the conspirators’ bank accounts, among other uses.

The documents showed that Galeas-Mejia closely supervised the transport and housing of migrants in the operation. The organization was also a family business for Galeas-Mejia, the DOJ said.

Galeas-Mejia’s wife, Eva Maria, 43; his two sisters, Norma, 52, and Sandra, 48; and his stepdaughter Lisa Marie Ortega, 25, all were convicted as co-conspirators earlier this year.

Eva Maria Galeas’ 15-year prison sentence is the longest of the four women. Galeas’ stepdaughter, Lisa Marie Ortega, was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Galeas-Mejia’s sisters Sandra (seven years) and Norma (six years and six months) will serve less than 100 months in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations said they stopped several shipments of contraband from reaching their destination and arrested numerous co-conspirators and undocumented citizens in connection with the case.

In addition to the prison sentence and the forfeiture of $603,593 found in a safe in his home, the judge ordered Roberto Galeas-Mejia to pay a judgment of nearly $1 million ($1,008,000).

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