A woman was sentenced to years in federal prison for her involvement in a cartel-linked scheme to smuggle over 1,900 undocumented immigrants into the US.
The woman, a resident of Mexico, was herself in Texas illegally, a Wednesday press release from federal officials said.
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Mexican national sentenced
Giovana Lozano Hernandez, 27, pled guilty to importing unauthorized immigrants for financial gain on September 3, 2025. She was sentenced to 70 months in prison this week by United States District Judge John A. Kazen.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, the court found evidence that the large-scale smuggling enterprise served as a “one-stop shop” for hiding and transporting undocumented aliens on the US side of the border. Hernandez was revealed to have served as the group’s de facto chief financial officer.
Large-scale smuggling operation
According to the announcement, Hernandez and her husband, Danny Nunez, 35, worked for Cartel del Noreste to help smuggle immigrants. Nunez was also sentenced recently, receiving a 10-year term in January.
The release describes many smuggling events. Hernandez was linked to several incidents, including one in which over 100 unauthorized immigrants were trafficked in a single trailer.
Hernandez will remain in detention until authorities decide on his transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in the near future.
