A Texas crime victim coordinator employed by the Starr County District Attorney’s Office has pleaded guilty to using a county vehicle to smuggle immigrants into the United States.
Bernice Garza reportedly pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens within the United States. This is a report from KRGV.
Two other people, Magali Rosa and Juan Antonio Charles, were also arrested in connection with the investigation and pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges, the report said.
Texas crime victim liaison officer arrested on suspicion of using county-issued vehicle in human smuggling scheme
A 2015 Chevrolet Traverse with the emblem of the Starr County, Texas District Attorney’s Office. One employee at the agency was fired after his car was used in a people-smuggling scheme, authorities said. (Victoria County Sheriff’s Office)
According to the criminal complaint, Garza was arrested in December 2022 during a traffic enforcement operation in Victoria County after a vehicle registered to the county was found to be “making numerous unauthorized trips into the Houston area.” Ta.
Police said the driver of the car was Magali Rosa, and Garza and Charles were passengers.
During the stop, Rosa tried to identify Garza as the Starr County district attorney, but then confessed to making more than 40 smuggling trips from Rio Grande to Houston in his official vehicle, police said.
houston skyline (Reuters/Richard Carson)
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“This investigation is an example of how no one is above the law, and our office is taking swift action to combat public corruption,” the DA’s office said in a statement after the arrest. Ta.
Garza was immediately fired from the DA’s office, while the four immigrants in the vehicle at the time of the stop were turned over to U.S. Border Patrol.
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Sentencing for Garza and Charles is reportedly scheduled for September 28, and Magali Rosa’s sentencing for June 27.
