A 19-year-old from Houston has been given a 42-month prison sentence for a crime spree that culminated in a carjacking and an ill-fated attempt to smuggle people across the border. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Jesus Jonathan Rodriguez, the convicted, had already pleaded guilty to the charge of carjacking on Sept. 23, 2024.
In a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, who presided over the case, issued the sentence and emphasized the gravity of Rodriguez's crimes by choosing to immediately follow up his incarceration with three years of supervised release. The carjacking took place on May 19, 2024, when Rodriguez teamed up with Christian Hardy to ambitiously try to steal a Ford Fiesta for use in their smuggling plan.
The details of the crime as per the DOJ documents reveal that Rodriguez and Hardy, then 18, executed their plan outside a convenience store in Edinburg. The young men approached their target, and while Rodriguez distracted the driver, Hardy slipped into the vehicle. Rodriguez then brandished a firearm, threatening the car's owner before driving off together with Hardy.
The duo's plan quickly unraveled the next day at the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint. Law enforcement officers, alerted that the Ford Fiesta was stolen, directed Rodriguez and Hardy to a secondary inspection area where two undocumented individuals were discovered hidden in the vehicle's trunk. Moreover, it was during this inspection that authorities also did manage to find a firearm on Rodriguez, leading to his arrest. Hardy has also pleaded guilty and is currently awaiting his own sentencing.
As Rodriguez awaits his transfer to a federal prison, Hardy's future hangs in balance. Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation that also involved Border Patrol and Edinburg Police Department, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Martin prosecuting the case.
