A Kansas man who sent drivers to the Rio Grande Valley to haul migrants is going to federal prison.

His name is Jesse Antonio Villa. He is 45. He lives in Hutchinson, Kansas. A federal judge in Corpus Christi gave him 65 months in prison. After that, he will be on three years of supervised release. That means he will be watched by the court once he gets out.

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos handed down the sentence. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas shared the news on Oct. 1.

Villa pleaded guilty on Aug. 20, 2025. The charge was alien smuggling conspiracy. In plain words, he worked with others to move people who crossed the border illegally.

Here is how it worked, according to the feds.

From May 2023 to November 2024, Villa found drivers in Kansas. He sent them south to the Valley. A man named Edgar Ruiz-Briones ran the smuggling group. He set up the trips once the drivers got here.

The drivers picked up migrants at stash houses. Then they drove them to Houston. On the way, they went through checkpoints.

In Houston, the drivers met up with Ruiz-Briones. From there, the migrants were moved deeper into the United States.

The drivers kept in touch with both men. They set up trips. They told the men how each run was going. They planned the drop-offs in Houston.

At the sentencing, the court heard more. Testimony said Villa found at least 10 drivers from Hutchinson. His drivers helped move more than 100 migrants, according to the testimony.

Ruiz-Briones already got his time. A judge gave him 120 months in federal prison. That was back in October 2025. He was 41 then.

The feds called his sentence the maximum. He had pleaded guilty to alien smuggling conspiracy. He also pleaded guilty to coming back into the country illegally. Prosecutors said he had been removed from the country more than once before. He will face removal again once he is done with his time.

This case shows how far smuggling rings reach. The trips started at the border in the Valley. But the drivers came from a city in Kansas, far from the border.

Villa is in custody now. He will stay locked up until he is moved to a federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, worked the case. Border Patrol helped. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Griffith took the case to court.

The feds say this case is part of Operation Take Back America. That is a Justice Department push against illegal immigration, cartels and violent crime.

The news release did not name any of the drivers. It did not say if any of them face charges.