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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Seven people from Guatemala, living in the U.S. illegally, have been sentenced for smuggling illegal aliens across the Mexican border and into Tennessee and twenty-five other states across the country.
According to the Homeland Security Task Force, the leader of the group, Cidia Marleny Lima Lopez, coordinated with the other six individuals in bringing illegal aliens from Asia, Central America, and South America into the country for a fee of $5,000 each over a three-and-a-half year period.
Using social media, forty-year-old Lopez worked with accomplices in her native country to get them payments so that they would drive those seeking to enter the U.S. illegally from Guatemala to Mexico.
Once in Mexico, the illegal aliens would wait for an opportunity to cross the border and enter the U.S. illegally. Upon entering the country, these aliens would meet up with drivers who transported them to stash houses in Tennessee as well as other states.
Staring in October 2021 through April 2025, these illegal aliens wound up on both the east and west coasts and places in between being delivered to Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.
The money paid to Lopez was put into bank accounts that she and the other six defendants were able to access. Lopez used the funds to buy real estate and vehicles.
In April 2025, following a search warrant in Oklahoma City, Lopez forfeited two ATVs and three trucks. According to law enforcement, she later forfeited all interest and property at three different properties in Sequoyah County and at two different homes in Oklahoma City.
Lopez, along with five other defendants were sentenced for Conspiracy to Bring and Transport Aliens in the United States Illegally for Private Financial Gain and the seventh defendant was sentenced for Attempt to Bring an Alien to the United States Illegally for Private Financial Gain.
Lopez, from Charlotte, North Carolina received a two years and nine months long sentenced which is to be followed with three years of supervised release.
Lopez’s coconspirators, thirty-three-year-old Ottoniel Castro Argueta from Charlotte, North Carolina; thirty-four-year-old Veronica Maribel Lima Lopez, from Oklahoma City; thirty-year-old Ariz Obdulio Argueta, from Clarksville, Arkansas; twenty-six-year-old Pedro Cucul Gualna, from Sallisaw, Oklahoma; thirty-one-year-old Carlos Enrique Ramos Caal, from Flagstaff, Arizona; and twenty-one-year-old Cesar Rodolfo Garcia Argueta, from Clarksville, Arkansas were given a range of sentences from time served and supervised release up to four years and three months and supervised release.
All seven are expected to face deportation proceedings once their sentences have been served.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
