Jury convicts Cuban immigrant of alien smuggling

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 29-year-old legal permanent resident of Cuba residing in Houston has been convicted of transporting illegal aliens, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

A federal jury sitting in Corpus Christi deliberated for three hours before finding Ciro Yasel Castillo guilty after a two-day trial. 

The jury heard that on March 15, 2020, Castillo drove an SUV into the primary inspection area at the Border Patrol (BP) checkpoint near Falfurrias. He claimed he and his three passengers were Cubans and produced a temporary driver’s license as identification. However, no one could provide proof of legal immigration status.

Authorities referred them to secondary inspection where they determined two of the passengers were minors from Guatemala illegally present in the United States. The other was an illegal alien from Cuba. During this inspection, Castillo became combative with law enforcement, resisting arrest for several minutes and inflicting minor injuries on some of the agents.

Upon further investigation, authorities determined the Cuban passenger – Lazaro Fidel Lopez - Torres, 30 - was part of a conspiracy to transport the two minor aliens. He eventually pleaded guilty for his role in that crime.

The defense attempted to convince the jury Castillo was an unofficial Uber driver. He claimed he accepted $500 via Western Union from an unknown person to pick up the two teenagers from the Valley in the middle of the night and take them to Houston. The just did not believe those claims and found him guilty.  

U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton presided over the trial and set sentencing for July 1. At that time, Castillo faces up to 10 years of imprisonment and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. He was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.

BP conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda L. Gould and Molly Smith are prosecuting the case.