A 26-year-old Houston man will spend an additional 35 years in federal prison for his role in a human smuggling conspiracy connected to a 2022 crash in rural Texas that left three people dead. Roland Heith Martinez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport migrants resulting in death, and his new sentence will run consecutively to an 11-year prison term he is already serving for drug trafficking.
The combined sentences leave Martinez facing nearly 47 years behind bars, according to FOX 7 Austin. He had already been serving a 140-month sentence out of the Southern District of Texas for drug trafficking when federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas brought the superseding smuggling indictment against him, according to the Department of Justice.
A Cartel-Linked Smuggling Network
Martinez was an active member of the Guzman Transnational Criminal Organization from May 2021 until his arrest, per the same DOJ account. The network operated across Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana and Mexico, and was connected to Cartel De Jalisco Nueva Generacion, which has been accused of trafficking drugs and guns and smuggling migrants into the United States, the department's filing states.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons said Martinez was heavily involved in the organization's operations, facilitating smuggling funds, managing stash houses and dealing firearms. Federal filings estimate the Guzman TCO moves 50 to 100 migrants per month through the Western District of Texas and has been linked to more than 1,000 smuggled migrants and 400 failed smuggling operations.
Martinez arranged transportation of migrants within the United States and recruited drivers for future operations, according to the same DOJ account. He sent more than $54,000 to multiple smuggling facilitators through at least 368 money transfers and Cash App payments before his arrest.
The Fatal Crash That Triggered the Case
The smuggling operation Martinez helped finance ended in a single-vehicle crash on August 7, 2022, in Kimble County, Texas. The crash killed two undocumented migrants and the vehicle's driver, who was identified as a U.S. citizen, per the DOJ.
Martinez was arrested on unrelated drug charges in Houston on January 25, 2023. He was later named in a 12-count superseding indictment filed in the Western District of Texas on June 26, 2024, ultimately pleading guilty to one count in June 2025, according to the DOJ's account of the court record.
A Broader Federal Takedown
Pasciucco said the 35-year sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes and referred to HSI's commitment to dismantling violent criminal organizations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted the case.
A broader federal case involving the Guzman criminal enterprise has 14 defendants. In April, co-conspirator Joel Contreras Jr. of Alabama was sentenced in Del Rio federal court to eight years in prison after admitting a role in migrant smuggling. He had transported migrants picked up at Eagle Pass gas stations to San Antonio or Houston for $500 per person on behalf of the Guzman TCO, making him the first of the 14 defendants sentenced in the broader case.
Part of a Wider Federal Crackdown
Operation Take Back America is a Department of Justice initiative.
