Mexican Nationals Sentenced for Drug, Smuggling Offenses

Jesus Ignacio Medina-Leyva, a 29-year-old Mexican national, was sentenced in Arkansas to 10 years in federal prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and money laundering, after pleading guilty; he was indicted with 31 others in 2017, and 26 co-defendants have also been convicted and sentenced. Medina-Leyva was arrested entering the U.S. from Canada in August 2024. In a separate case, Navor Salas Cruz, who had been deported to Mexico 10 times over 25 years for various crimes, received 54 months in federal prison for drunk driving in Hawaii. Additionally, Jorge Adan Fontes-Garcia, a 26-year-old Mexican, was sentenced to over 10 years in Arizona for fatal migrant smuggling after a migrant died from heat exposure. These cases illustrate U.S. authorities' ongoing efforts to target drug trafficking, money laundering, repeat immigration offenses, and human smuggling involving Mexican nationals.