A 59-year-old Mexican national illegally residing in Rains County has been indicted on federal charges in the Eastern District of Texas, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.
Rigoberto Herrera-Rodriguez was named in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury last week. He is charged with illegal reentry after deportation and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
According to the indictment, Herrera-Rodriguez was found unlawfully present in the United States on June 4, 2025, and was in possession of a firearm at the time. Records show he had previously been deported from the United States to Mexico in December 2024.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative aimed at eliminating cartels, transnational criminal organizations, and violent crime through coordinated efforts from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).
If convicted, Herrera-Rodriguez faces up to 15 years in federal prison, followed by deportation.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak.
A federal indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
