Eric Eliel Pena has been here before.

The 32-year-old from Roma is in federal jail right now. No bond. He is charged with running a smuggling ring in Starr County for more than three years. He has been in federal court for the same type of crime before.

The first time was Christmas Day 2018.

Border Patrol agents hit a stash house in Roma that morning. Inside they found seven migrants without papers. Pena was there with his uncle, Guadalupe Sanchez-Perez. The migrants had each paid between $2,400 and $10,000 to be smuggled in. Agents tied Pena to the house using a photo lineup.

Pena pled guilty in March 2019. A federal judge gave him eight months in prison plus three years of supervised release.

Supervised release is like probation. You report to a federal officer. You follow strict rules. Break them and you go back.

Pena broke them.

He broke the rules of his release in December 2019. By January 2020, he was back in federal court. The judge took it away and gave him 12 months and one day more in prison. That time ran with a separate state case. Pena tried to appeal. By March 2021, the appeal was done.

He got out. He went home to Roma.

He did not stop, prosecutors say.

Stash houses and paid drivers move people fast away from the river. Starr County sits right on the border. Roma is one of the busiest crossing spots in South Texas. The money keeps pulling people back in, even after prison.

A grand jury says Pena was back in business by November 2022. For the next three years and more, he ran with six others, moving migrants inside Starr County by car for money.

The operation began to come apart on May 27, 2026.

That afternoon, Border Patrol agents in Roma watched five migrants cross the Rio Grande from Mexico. The group walked through brush and slipped into an empty property near the river. Then they got into a gray Mercedes Benz.

Agents followed the car to a house on Rene Street in Roma.

The owner, Juan Manuel Alaniz, let agents in. They found all five migrants hiding in a bathroom. The migrants said they were from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Alaniz told agents he knew they were there. He said he was paid to keep them. The driver, Hector Eliel Alvarado, told agents he was paid to bring them to the house.

HSI Special Agent Leonardo DeFoe signed the complaint. Prosecutor Laura Marie Garcia approved it.

A grand jury charged all seven on June 9, 2026. They each face a federal count for moving migrants inside the U.S. for money. That charge can mean up to 10 years in prison.

Pena was caught in Roma on June 17. A judge ordered him held without bond on June 22. He is the only one of the seven who was in federal court before for migrant smuggling.

Six others are also charged. Jose Eduardo Alaniz, known as "Chino," is out on $50,000 bond. Jose Manuel Rios is locked up with no bond. Jose Luis Marin Jr. is out on a $50,000 unsecured bond, meaning he did not have to post cash. Jose Angel Garcia paid $35,000 bond on June 24. Juan Manuel Alaniz is locked up. Hector Eliel Alvarado is locked up.

Prosecutor Laura Marie Garcia is on the case in McAllen. Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck leads the Southern District of Texas.

Pena goes to trial on August 4, 2026. Chief Judge Randy Crane will preside in McAllen.

All of them are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.