LOS ANGELES, CA – A Los Angeles-based human smuggling operation that prosecutors say moved roughly 20,000 Guatemalan migrants into the United States over five years has resulted in a nearly 22-year federal prison sentence for its alleged leader.
Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, 53, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to bring, transport and harbor migrants in the United States for private financial gain and to one count of hostage taking, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
The sentence amounts to about 21 years and 10 months. U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela also ordered Renoj-Matul to pay $64,945 in restitution connected to a November 2023 crash in Oklahoma that killed seven migrants, including two children ages 4 and 6, federal prosecutors said.
The case goes beyond the organization’s role in transporting migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. Court documents described a network that collected large sums from migrants and their families, maintained stash houses in the United States and, in some cases, used threats and confinement when payments were not made.
Operation moved migrants across multiple states
According to federal prosecutors, Renoj-Matul operated within a transnational organization that moved approximately 20,000 people from Guatemala into the United States between 2019 and July 2024.
Associates in Guatemala recruited migrants and arranged the initial stages of their journeys, while Mexican smuggling organizations transported them through Mexico and across the southern U.S. border. Once migrants entered the United States, members of the organization coordinated transportation and temporary housing.
Prosecutors said migrants were charged between $15,000 and $18,000 each, with the organization ultimately moving people to destinations across the country.
The network had connections to operations in Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee and Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C., according to the Department of Justice.
A significant part of the operation was based in Los Angeles.
Westlake stash house used to hold migrants
Federal prosecutors said the organization operated a stash house on James M. Wood Boulevard in the Westlake district, where migrants were taken after being smuggled into the country.
Those who had paid their smuggling fees were eventually transported to other destinations. But prosecutors said people whose fees remained unpaid could be kept inside the house against their will until additional money was provided.
The case therefore involved both the movement of migrants and allegations of coercion after they arrived in the United States.
The Department of Justice said Renoj-Matul admitted that he participated in the organization for private financial gain and was involved in transporting and harboring migrants after their arrival in the country.
Prosecutors described hostage-taking and sexual assault
The federal case also detailed allegations involving individual victims who were held hostage over unpaid smuggling debts.
In one case described in court filings, prosecutors said Renoj-Matul held a woman against her will after her smuggling fees were not paid. She was allegedly sexually assaulted, forced to perform demeaning work and threatened with harm to her family as the organization attempted to collect the debt.
In another case, prosecutors said a victim was held at the Westlake location from May through July 2024 after a third party failed to pay the required smuggling fees. The victim’s mother was allegedly threatened with harm to her child if the money was not provided.
Federal prosecutors said another Guatemalan migrant was held from April through July 2024 under similar circumstances, with threats of violence and continued detention used to pressure third parties into paying the debt.
The allegations were part of the sentencing evidence considered by the federal court.
Fatal Oklahoma crash killed seven migrants
The smuggling operation also became connected to a fatal crash in Oklahoma in November 2023.
According to federal authorities, José Paxtor-Oxlaj was driving a vehicle involved in the crash near Elk City while transporting migrants as part of the smuggling operation. Seven passengers died.
The case was investigated separately by federal authorities in Oklahoma, where Paxtor-Oxlaj ultimately faced state and federal proceedings. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma previously reported that the November 21, 2023 crash resulted in six passenger deaths at the scene and another critically injured passenger; subsequent federal proceedings and the California case identify the overall death toll associated with the crash as seven.
Paxtor-Oxlaj later pleaded guilty in the California smuggling case to conspiracy charges involving the transportation and harboring of migrants for financial gain and resulting in death.
He was sentenced by Judge Valenzuela on July 31 to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $64,945 in restitution related to the crash, according to the Central District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Co-defendant receives 33-month sentence
Another member of the organization, Cristóbal Mejia-Chaj, 51, of Westlake, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison in the same proceeding.
Mejia-Chaj pleaded guilty on March 25 to conspiracy to bring, transport and harbor migrants in the United States for private financial gain.
His case is not fully resolved because a separate restitution hearing is scheduled for December 11, according to federal prosecutors.
Meanwhile, Helmer Obispo-Hernández, 43, also known as “Xavi,” has been identified by prosecutors as a lieutenant in the organization and remains a fugitive facing federal criminal charges.
Federal agencies investigated Los Angeles network
The investigation involved multiple federal and local agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations, the HSI El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, the HSI Figueroa Initiative Gang and Human Trafficking Task Force, the U.S. Border Patrol and the Inglewood Police Department.
The case illustrates the distinction between ordinary immigration-related movement and criminal smuggling operations in which people are transported for financial gain and can subsequently be subjected to exploitation or coercion.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement describes human smuggling and human trafficking as related but distinct criminal activities, with smuggling generally centered on the illegal transportation of people across a border while trafficking involves exploitation through force, fraud or coercion.
In this case, federal prosecutors said the organization involved both large-scale smuggling and conduct such as hostage-taking and sexual assault.
Prosecutor calls operation a criminal enterprise
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli described the organization as a criminal enterprise that profited from migrants’ desperation.
“This criminal built an illicit money-making machine off the desperation of illegal immigrants,” Essayli said in a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Essayli also pointed to the hostage-taking allegations, sexual assault and deaths resulting from the Oklahoma crash as evidence of the dangers prosecutors associate with the operation.
Renoj-Matul had been in federal custody since February 2025. His guilty plea resolved the federal charges against him without a trial.
Restitution proceedings remain
Although Renoj-Matul has now received his federal prison sentence, the case still has outstanding financial proceedings.
A separate restitution hearing involving victims who were held hostage is expected to be scheduled at a later date. Mejia-Chaj’s restitution hearing is set for December 11.
Federal authorities also continue to seek Obispo-Hernández, who remains a fugitive, according to the Department of Justice.
The sentencing marks the latest major development in a case that federal prosecutors described as one of the largest human smuggling organizations investigated in the United States, with a Los Angeles operation that allegedly extended from the Westlake neighborhood to destinations across the country.
