U.S. Attorney Nicholas Genjei announced Thursday that a woman from North Texas was sentenced to federal prison for attempting to smuggle two children from Mexico into Laredo, Texas.
Sandra Perez, 36, of Fort Worth, pled guilty on Nov. 19 to attempting to take two Mexican children and her own three US citizens in an SUV from Mexico on August 8.
According to officials, Perez fraudulently claimed the Mexican children were her children and attempted to show bogus Texas birth certificates and Social Security cards, Ganjei reported.
“Smuggling children is absolutely reprehensible,” Ganjei said. “Who knows what awaited these children had the defendant managed to slip past authorities. Fortunately, law enforcement was able to unravel Perez’s false story and stop her smuggling scheme dead in its tracks.”
Border officers questioned the Mexican children, and when they failed to respond, Perez acknowledged attempting to sneak them into the United States. She also informed officials that she would be paid $5,000 for each child following delivery.
U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña sentenced Perez to three years in federal prison.
