Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 176 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico.
It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).
In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organised crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security.
Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.
On May 8, Ismael Castro-Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Assault on a Federal Officer and Attempted Entry of a Removed Alien. According to a complaint, two Border Patrol agents were attacked by Castro and others when they attempted to rescue Castro, who was hanging from barbed wire on the border wall with a broken ladder nearby.
The agents were pelted with rocks by other immigrants, including one who was sitting atop the wall. One agent grabbed Castro’s right hand and forced him to release the wire. Once he broke Castro’s grip, the agent was able to pull Castro from the wire and take him to the ground, where Castro continued to struggle and attempted to tackle the agent.
As they fell to the ground, Castro started reaching for the agent’s gun and collapsible steel baton.
The two agents were able to subdue Castro and arrest him. Castro was previously deported to Mexico on June 29, 2022, through the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
On May 6, Rosa Cervantez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Cervantez attempted to cross the border in the SENTRI lane at the Calexico West Port of Entry.
But a Customs and Border Protection officer discovered 36 plastic-wrapped packages hidden in a spare tire well of her car, containing 85 pounds of fentanyl and more than 2 pounds of cocaine.
On May 7, Salvador Hernandez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance.
According to a complaint, Hernandez attempted to smuggle three pounds of methamphetamine through the pedestrian lanes of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Customs and Border Protection officers found three packages concealed in Hernandez’s waistline, secured with Saran Wrap.
On May 7, Jose Tomas Lopez-Navarro of Honduras was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation.
According to a complaint, Lopez-Navarro submitted a counterfeit passport to a Customs and Border Patrol officer when asking to be admitted to the U.S. at the San Ysidro Pedestrian East Port of Entry.
Lopez-Navarro had been previously removed from the U.S. to Honduras on February 4, 2025.
Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:
On April 30, Abner Leon-Mote, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of felony Assault with a Deadly Weapon in April 2018, was found guilty by a jury of Attempted Reentry of Removed Alien for again entering the U.S. illegally.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 29, 2025, and Leon-Mote faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
On May 5, Omar Laveaga-Flores, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of an illegal entry offence in Arizona in 2022, was sentenced in federal court to 60 days in custody for again entering the U.S illegally.
On May 8, Juan Melgoza-Soto and Santiago Alfredo Gonzalez Hara, previously removed Mexican nationals, were sentenced in federal court to 73 days in custody for bringing an undocumented alien into the United States from Mexico.
On May 9, Martin Josue Gutierrez, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced to six months in custody for Transportation of Certain Aliens.
The defendant had seven undocumented individuals in a truck, including several under a tarp in the bed of the truck, and failed to yield during an attempted vehicle stop by law enforcement.
