During last week of enforcement operations from April 5, 2025, through April 11, 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona brought immigration-related criminal charges against 261 defendants.
Specifically, the United States filed 103 cases in which aliens illegally re-entered the United States, and the United States also charged 140 aliens for illegally entering the United States.
In its ongoing effort to deter unlawful immigration, the United States also filed 14 cases against 18 individuals responsible for smuggling illegal aliens into and within the District of Arizona.
These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The recent matters of interest are listed below.
United States v. Sanchez-Marcial: On April 8, 2025, Ofricino Sanchez-Marcial was arrested and charged for Harboring Illegal Aliens.
The criminal complaint alleges that Sanchez-Marcial held a Guatemalan citizen, who was illegally present in the United States, against his will and sent threatening messages to his family members demanding a ransom of $135,000.
United States v. Renteria-Cruz: On April 8, 2025, Bonifacio Renteria-Cruz, 48, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested on Illegal Re-Entry charges during an HSI operation led by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan.
In January 2025, HSI learned that Reinteria-Cruz had illegally returned to the United States after being deported following a 2006 Aggravated Assault conviction.
After his deportation, Mexican authorities charged Renteria-Cruz with homicide for events that occurred on July 20, 2009, in Mexico. He was a fugitive until his arrest on Tuesday by HSI.
