A 29-year-old Belize national living in Conroe has admitted in federal court that she assaulted an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during a targeted enforcement operation in Houston last September, prosecutors say. The woman scratched an agent, took a swing while wearing a handcuff, then bolted into a crowd before officers caught up with her, and the case is now moving toward sentencing.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, the defendant is Sindi Vanessa Moreno‑Flores, 29, a Belize national who lives in Conroe. She pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal officer after an encounter on Sept. 23, 2025. Prosecutors say Moreno‑Flores "pulled away and scratched an ICE agent’s upper left arm and hands" and "swung her arm" while wearing a handcuff before running into nearby bystanders, where authorities ultimately restrained and arrested her. The office says she has been and will remain in custody and faces up to eight years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine.
What prosecutors say
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also pushed the case on X, posting a brief message that read "illegal alien admits to assaulting officer" along with the hashtag #OperationTakeBackAmerica and a link to the press release. Homeland Security Investigations led the inquiry, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin R. Martin is prosecuting the case, according to the office.
Part of a wider enforcement push
Prosecutors say the case is one small piece of "Operation Take Back America," a Justice Department initiative that has fueled a spike in immigration and border security prosecutions in the Southern District of Texas. The district handled nearly 14,000 immigration and related matters in 2025 under that banner, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas reported in an annual summary.
Legal exposure
Federal law on assaults against federal officers, 18 U.S.C. § 111, allows for penalties of up to eight years in prison when there is physical contact. If a weapon is used or bodily injury results, the maximum can jump to 20 years. Those provisions form the basis for the potential sentence outlined by prosecutors in this case.
Moreno‑Flores will be sentenced at a later hearing before a federal judge, and she remains in custody until then. The case is proceeding in Houston federal court as part of the broader enforcement activity in the region.
