Former Starr County DA employee sentenced for human smuggling

Seen is the vehicle belonging to the Crime Victim’s Center the trio are accused of using to transport people in the country illegally to the Houston area. (Courtesy: Victoria County Sheriff’s Office)

The former crime victims coordinator for the Starr County District Attorney’s Office was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday for using a government vehicle in a human smuggling operation.

Bernice Annette Garza had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport people in the country illegally within the United States.

Bernice Garza

Authorities arrested Garza on Dec. 7, 2022 after a traffic stop near Victoria where deputies found four people in the country illegally inside a Starr County District Attorney’s Office vehicle.

The scheme to smuggle people spanned from June 1, 2022 to Dec. 7, 2022.

After Garza’s arrest, she admitted to being involved in the conspiracy with her co-defendants and “that they had made over forty (40) trips to transport undocumented aliens from the Rio Grande City, TX area to the Houston, TX, area,” the criminal complaint stated.

At the time, the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office said the traffic stop happened at approximately 12:20 p.m. that day in the 9000 block of Highway 59 South in the Raisin Community of unincorporated Victoria County.

Authorities identified the vehicle as a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse that had the Starr County District Attorney’s Office emblem on it. A license plate check also showed the vehicle was registered to the office.

After her arrest, she was fired by the Starr County District Attorney’s Office.

Garza was charged in the case along with Magali Rosa, Juan Antonio Charles and Mari Cruz Rosa, who all have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy.

Cruz was sentenced to time served while Rosa was sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

Charles received the stiffest sentence in the case. He was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

Garza was allowed to remain on bond following her sentence and was ordered to voluntarily surrender to the Bureau of Prisons to serve her term at a later date.

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