DEL RIO, TEXAS — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Texas, Western), published as received.
DEL RIO, Texas – An illegal alien from Mexico was sentenced in a federal court in Del Rio to 420 months in prison for his role in a criminal conspiracy to import methamphetamine and heroin into the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.
According to court documents, Juan Alberto Gutierrez-Guerra, 36, was one of five occupants in a vehicle pulled over by Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Oct. 4, 2021. Inside the vehicle, law enforcement officers located a backpack with 10 bundles containing methamphetamine and one bundle containing heroin. An investigation revealed that Gutierrez-Guerra and co-defendant Oscar David Perez-Arita conspired together, intending to smuggle the narcotics to San Antonio before returning to Mexico.
Gutierrez-Guerra and Perez-Arita were named in a five-count indictment on Nov. 3, 2021. On May 16, 2022, Gutierrez-Guerra pleaded guilty to all five counts. Perez-Arita pleaded guilty only to count one, conspiracy to import methamphetamine, and was sentenced in November 2025 to 292 months in federal prison with credit for time served since the Oct. 4, 2021 arrest.
Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses presided over the case.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
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