Businesswoman held without bond in ropa usada case

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A businesswoman accused of smuggling ropa usada across the border was held without bond Monday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano ordered Estela Perez De Galvan, 52, of Hidalgo — who co-owns Jaqueline’s Ropa Usada — held without bond during a hearing on Monday morning.

“If I could set conditions, I would,” Medrano said, adding that she considered Perez a flight risk.

Homeland Security Investigations arrested Perez on March 19, when federal agents raided two ropa usada warehouses in Hidalgo.

Along with Perez, they arrested:

• Her brother, Francisco Perez-Perez, who is charged with money laundering.
  
  Francisco and other members of the family own Leo’s Clothing, a ropa usada business in Hidalgo, according to documents filed with the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.
  
  
• Her brother, Pedro Perez-Perez, who is charged with smuggling goods from the United States.
  
  Pedro is a co-owner of Leo’s Clothing.
  
  
• Her nephew, Sergio Perez, who is charged with money laundering.
  
  Sergio owns Tamayo Ropa Usada, which shares a building with Jaqueline’s Ropa Usada.
  
  
• Her nephew’s husband, Claudio Armando Cazares-Gonzalez, who is charged with unlawful employment.
  
  Cazares is a manager at Tamayo Ropa Usada.
  
  
• Rolando Martinez, the owner of America’s Best Clothing, who is charged with unlawful employment.
  
  America’s Best Clothing shares a building with Leo’s Clothing.

The charges against Francisco, Pedro, Sergio and Estela appear to be part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation.

Homeland Security Investigations discovered that members of the Perez family had shipped thousands of pounds of clothing to Mexico without filing the proper paperwork, according to criminal complaints filed by prosecutors.

People affiliated with the Perez family’s businesses, meanwhile, brought millions in cash back across the border.

Agents also linked two members of the family, Francisco and Sergio, to more than $230,000 in drug money seized during a traffic stop in January 2022, according to criminal complaints filed against them.

Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raided Leo’s Clothing and Jaqueline’s Ropa Usada last week.

During the raids, agents questioned employees at two adjacent businesses, America’s Best Clothing and Tamayo Ropa Usada.

Several lacked permission to work in the United States.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas charged Martinez, who owns America’s Best Clothing, and Cazares, a manager at Tamayo Ropa Usada, with unlawful employment.

After spending more than 10 days in jail, Estela Perez De Galvan appeared in court Monday morning for a preliminary examination and detention hearing.

Estela is a co-owner and manager at Jaqueline’s Ropa Usada, said Cordero Contreras, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations who testified during the hearing on Monday.

Documents filed with the Texas Secretary of State’s Office list her sister, Irma, as the company’s president. Irma had a visa that allowed her to visit the United States for business.

“She was declaring large sums of money,” Contreras said. “And it was revoked for suspicion of money laundering.”

Irma, however, still owns Jaqueline’s Ropa Usada.

Estela and Irma also control Jaqueline’s Properties, a company that owns more than $2.7 million worth of real estate in Hidalgo, according to information published by the Hidalgo County Appraisal District.

In October 2024, agents with Homeland Security Investigations conducted surveillance at Leo’s Clothing in Hidalgo.

Agents followed a tractor-trailer from Leo’s Clothing to several warehouses, Contreras said, and Homeland Security Investigations arranged for the Texas Department of Public Safety to conduct a traffic stop.

The driver had paperwork that listed Jaqueline’s Ropa Usada, not Leo’s Clothing, as the source of the shipment, Contreras said.

Homeland Security Investigations questioned Estela, who said Jaqueline’s Ropa Usada had sent 100 bales of clothing to a customer in Celaya, Guanajuato.

In a recorded conversation, agents told Estela that she needed to submit a Shipper’s Export Declaration for anything worth more than $2,500, Contreras said.

Homeland Security Investigations seized another shipment of ropa usada in December 2024.

The driver said he picked up the clothing at Jaqueline’s Ropa Usada for a customer in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, but couldn’t produce any paperwork for the shipment.

Homeland Security Investigations charged Estela with smuggling goods from the United States, a federal felony.

Attorney Omar Escobar of Rio Grande City, who represents Estela, said his client wasn’t actually required to fill out the Shipper’s Export Declaration.

Whether or not Estela is required to fill out the form depends on who is legally the “U.S. Principal Party in Interest” for the ropa usada shipments.

The U.S. Principal Party in Interest is the “person or legal entity in the United States that receives the primary benefit, monetary or otherwise, from the transaction,” according to the Code of Federal Regulations.

Depending on the circumstances, the U.S. Principal Party in Interest can be a business in the United States that sells goods to a foreign buyer; a business that directly arranges the sale and export of goods; or a foreign buyer that visits the United States to purchase goods for export, according to information published by the U.S. Census Bureau.

“She’s being charged with something that she’s not necessarily required to do,” Escobar said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Cook Profit, who is prosecuting the case, disagreed.

While she’s not necessarily required to fill out the form herself, Profit said Estela is clearly the U.S. Principal Party in Interest. As a result, it’s her responsibility to make sure the export paperwork is filed.

Medrano, the federal magistrate judge, agreed with Profit.

“At the end of the day, that form needs to be filled out,” Medrano said.

Medrano ordered Estela held without bond, concerned her family and business connections in Mexico made her a flight risk.

If convicted on the smuggling charge, Estela faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison.