Former Eagle Pass police detective Hazel Eileen Diaz was sentenced to ten years for her involvement in operating human smuggling stash houses. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Diaz's properties became temporary homes for undocumented noncitizens as part of a smuggling operation that spanned from September 2020 to August 2021.
Documents from the federal court in Del Rio report that Diaz, age 54, pocketed roughly $36,916 by housing nearly 200 migrants on behalf of a human smuggling organization. During her arrest, Diaz had in her possession $23,522 in cash, earnings derived from the illicit enterprise. Her activities, revealed in the investigation, included visiting these properties to collect rent.
Diaz's co-conspirators are also facing consequences in this complex situation. Tomas Alejandro Mendez has pleaded guilty to conspiring to harbor illegal aliens and awaits sentencing on Jan. 13, 2025. Paola Nikole Cazares, another individual involved, was previously sentenced on Oct. 11, 2023, to over five years in prison, with time served since her arrest in late August of the preceding year.
The legal repercussions for Diaz extend beyond prison bars. Upon completion of her decade-long sentence, she will submit to three years of supervised release, and pay $10,000 fine, along with a money judgment of $237,600. Compounding her loss, the government will seize three properties, a truck, and the cash found at the time of her arrest. U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza announced these penalties.
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Texas Department of Public Safety worked together to conclude Diaz's case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Holly Pavlinski leading the prosecution.
