DEL RIO, TX — A federal judge in Del Rio this week convicted a man for a human trafficking operation headquartered in San Antonio.

The Justice Department said Roberto Galeas-Mejia would spend 360 months – or 30 years – in federal prison.

The 48-year-old was found guilty of three charges in court in July 2022: conspiracy to transport illegal migrants, conspiracy to harbor illegal migrants and conspiracy to launder financial instruments .

The operation was lucrative for Galeas-Mejia, who used the money to rent hideouts, buy cars and pass through the conspirators’ bank accounts, among other uses.

Documents show that Galeas-Mejia closely monitored the transportation and accommodation of migrants as part of the operation. The organization was also a family affair for Galeas-Mejia, the DOJ said.

Galeas-Mejia’s wife, Eva Maria, 43; his two sisters, Norma, 52, and Sandra, 48; and her daughter-in-law, Lisa Marie Ortega, 25, were all convicted as co-conspirators earlier this year.

The 15-year prison sentence handed down to Eva Maria Galeas is the longest of the four women. Galeas’ daughter-in-law, Lisa Marie Ortega, was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Galeas-Mejia’s sisters, Sandra (seven years) and Norma (six years and six months), will serve less than 100 months in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations said it stopped several shipments of contraband from reaching their destinations and arrested numerous co-conspirators and undocumented non-citizens linked to the case.

In addition to the prison sentence and the forfeiture of the $603,593 found in a safe at his home, the judge ordered Roberto Galeas-Mejia to pay a sum of just over $1 million ( $1,008,000).

More coverage of this story on KSAT: