A federal jury in Corpus Christi needed barely more than a coffee break to convict 63-year-old Ludivina Vasquez-Salinas of transporting an illegal alien further into the United States after a one-day trial. The panel deliberated roughly 25 minutes before returning the guilty verdict. Vasquez-Salinas, who lived in Penitas, will remain in custody until a sentencing hearing set for May 27.
Prosecutors said the stop that sparked the case happened May 7, 2025, when agents pulled over a white SUV Vasquez-Salinas was driving and initially saw three people inside. Officers then watched as the rear window was covered, allegedly to hide someone lying under a blanket on the rear floorboard. According to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Vasquez-Salinas eventually admitted she knew an illegal alien was in the vehicle and that she was driving the person past a checkpoint. The defense argued she had been tricked into the situation, but jurors rejected that claim and found her guilty as charged.
Investigation and Trial
Customs and Border Protection led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Griffith and Izaak Bruce took the case to federal court. The U.S. Attorney’s Office later highlighted the verdict on its official X account, posting the same basic summary of the traffic stop, charges, and conviction while tagging Operation Take Back America. Prosecutors pointed to the one-day trial and quick jury decision as signs that the evidence was straightforward and the case relatively clean-cut.
Legal Consequences
Vasquez-Salinas faces up to five years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine, and the conviction could jeopardize her ability to continue living in the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. U.S. District Judge David S. Morales presided over the trial and set formal sentencing for May 27, when the court will decide any term of imprisonment. Until then, Vasquez-Salinas will stay behind bars.
Where This Fits
Federal prosecutors have flagged the case as part of "Operation Take Back America," a broader Justice Department push targeting human smuggling and repeat illegal reentries along the South Texas border. Hoodline’s earlier coverage of the immigration crackdown sweep shows dozens of filings in the Southern District of Texas and underscores how the department has prioritized these prosecutions. Local officials and enforcement agencies say cases like Vasquez-Salinas’s are one piece of wider efforts to curb smuggling and related crimes in the region.
