A crime victims coordinator employed by the South Texas district attorney’s office has been arrested and fired from her position after being caught in a scheme to use a work vehicle to smuggle people into the United States, authorities said. .
Bernice Garza was arrested following an investigation by the Starr County District Attorney’s office, Gocha Allen Ramirez, Homeland Security Investigations and the Texas Rangers.
Also arrested were Magali Rosa and Juan Antonio Charles, both 40, Ramirez’s office said. The trio allegedly used a vehicle belonging to the Center for Victims of Crime to transport undocumented immigrants to the Houston area.
FOX NEWS TEAM WITNESS DRAMATIC PERSON SMUGGLING ARRESTS BY TEXAS AUTHORITIES
A 2015 Chevrolet Traverse with the emblem of the Starr County District Attorney’s Office in Texas. An office employee was fired after the car was sued in a people smuggling scheme, authorities said.
(Victoria County Sheriff’s Office)
They face charges of engaging in conspiracy and human smuggling. Charles faces an additional weapons charge.
“This investigation is an example that no one is above the law and that our office takes swift action to root out public corruption,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement announcing the arrests.
The Victoria County Sheriff’s Office said a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse emblazoned with the Starr County District Attorney’s Office was pulled over around 12:20 p.m. Dec. 7. There were five people inside.
Rosa was driving and said she was an employee of the prosecutor’s office. A check by authorities confirmed that she had lied, the sheriff’s office said.
“Victoria County Sheriff’s Office investigation revealed that the vehicle was assigned to a Crime Victim Coordinator who was an employee of the 229th Judicial District Attorney’s Office,” a sheriff’s news release said. “That person was identified as Bernice Garza.”
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Garza was fired from the prosecutor’s office. The four migrants in the vehicle were turned over to the US Border Patrol.
