Lockhart woman sentenced for role in smuggling operation between Eagle Pass and San Antonio
Lockhart, Texas – A 50-year-old woman from Lockhart has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for her leadership role in a smuggling conspiracy that moved dozens of undocumented immigrants through Texas.
Temple Ordaz-Alvarado received a 60-month sentence in federal court in Del Rio for conspiring to transport illegal aliens from Eagle Pass to San Antonio. The Honorable U.S. District Judge Ernest Gonzalez handed down the sentence on September 17, 2025.
According to federal court records, Ordaz-Alvarado was a key figure in an Alien Smuggling Organization. From September 8, 2021, to May 21, 2024, she was involved in the transportation of 53 undocumented immigrants. Authorities described her as both a leader and the operator of a stash house where immigrants were hidden and fed before being moved further north.
Her arrest came after a traffic stop conducted by U.S. Border Patrol agents. She was found driving ahead of her associate, Erin Gutierrez-Maradiaga, a Honduran national who was discovered transporting four undocumented immigrants. During the stop, law enforcement officers seized $3,004 in suspected smuggling proceeds from Ordaz-Alvarado.
Further investigation revealed that Gutierrez-Maradiaga had traveled from Houston to Eagle Pass, where he stayed in a motel with Ordaz-Alvarado. She offered to pay him “$1,500 per illegal alien to pick up and transport four illegal aliens to San Antonio.” After retrieving the individuals, Gutierrez-Maradiaga brought them back to the motel, where Ordaz-Alvarado provided them with food before they departed along U.S. Highway 277.
Ordaz-Alvarado entered a guilty plea to the conspiracy charge on August 12, 2024. Her co-conspirator, Gutierrez-Maradiaga, was sentenced earlier this year to 76 months in federal prison on March 7.
The sentencing marks the end of a lengthy investigation into the smuggling ring, which had been operating across multiple jurisdictions in Texas. Federal authorities emphasized that the case is part of broader efforts to dismantle organized smuggling operations exploiting vulnerable migrants.
Authorities have not disclosed whether further arrests or charges are pending in connection to the same smuggling network.
