Overview
- Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, 52, pleaded guilty on March 6 to conspiracy to bring, transport and harbor immigrants for financial gain, and to hostage-taking.
- He acknowledged moving roughly 20,000 people from Guatemala to the U.S. between 2019 and 2024, charging $15,000 to $18,000 per person and relying on Mexican smuggling groups for border crossings.
- Prosecutors say migrants were held at stash houses in Los Angeles and Phoenix, including a Westlake residence where at least two people were detained in 2024 under threats of violence.
- The network’s transport methods were linked by prosecutors to a November 2023 crash in Elk City, Oklahoma, that killed seven migrants, including a 4-year-old child.
- Renoj-Matul remains in custody awaiting an Oct. 2 sentencing with a maximum life term; co-defendants José Paxtor-Oxlaj and Cristóbal Mejía-Chaj face an April 21 trial, and alleged lieutenant Helmer Obispo-Hernández is a fugitive.