Brownsville smuggler gets 6 years for possessing images of child sex abuse

A 47-year-old Mexican man was sentenced Wednesday after authorities found him in possession of a cellphone containing child sexual abuse material, a discovery made during an investigation into harboring people illegally in the country.

Felix Raymondo Mora-Gonzalez pleaded guilty Feb. 20 and was sentenced to six years in prison followed by 25 years of supervised release for possession of the material, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Mora-Gonzalez was arrested on Feb. 21, 2023, for his involvement in smuggling people.

He was initially arrested for harboring people illegally present in the U.S. at his residence in Brownsville, according to the related criminal complaint.

On Jan. 11, 2023, U.S. Border Patrol agents were conducting surveillance on the residence when they observed a silver Ford Fusion occupied by two people.

A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper conducted a traffic stop on the Fusion and identified the driver as Juan Manuel Aguilar, who was the landlord of the residence.

“Agents approached Aguilar, identified themselves, and questioned him on the information received about a possible stash house located on Mesquite Street,” the complaint said. “Aguilar stated that he was the landlord of the residence and that he was renting it to a person who was a local wrestler that he knew only as Felix.”

Aguilar was only there to fix a pipe that had broken. Agents then conducted a “knock and talk” at the residence where they encountered three people not authorized to be in the country.

On Jan. 27, 2023, a search warrant issued on a cellphone believed to have belonged to him revealed violations of other federal crimes, according to the complaint.

“A forensic examination of the (cellphone) revealed Mora-Gonzalez knowingly possessed 29 videos and nine images of CSAM,” the release said.

Mora-Gonzalez has previously pleaded guilty to the smuggling charges and was sentenced to over a year in prison. He’ll remain in custody pending a transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.

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