El Paso Smuggling Ringleader Sentenced to Nine Years

El Paso resident Alex Montoya was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to theft and forgery charges stemming from a multiyear scheme involving stolen vehicles, fraudulent sales of land and mobile homes, and bad checks. His sentence includes a revoked probation term, but the sentences run concurrently, so his total prison time remains 10 years. In a separate case, Manuel Alejandro Melendez-Cereceres, known as “Monstro,” received a nine-year federal sentence for organizing migrant smuggling and conspiring to transport migrants in a crossing that left one migrant seriously injured after falling from a border fence. A judge also ordered him to pay a $672,101 money judgment.