Defendants Sentenced to Prison for Carjacking

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas
May 25, 2011

MCALLEN, TX—Jorge Luis de la Fuente-Monton, 19, and Fernando Antonio Munoz-Martinez, 19, both of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, have been sentenced to prison for carjacking, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.

U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Fuente-Monton to 78 months and Fernando Antonio Munoz-Martinez to 63 months’ in federal prison without parole at a hearing this morning in federal court in McAllen.

Fuente-Monton pleaded guilty on Jan. 28, 2011, while Munoz-Martinez pleaded guilty on Feb. 1, 2011 to carjacking—admitting that they had physically assaulted and threatened a man who was standing outside his car in a parking lot with a screwdriver. The victim suffered minor injuries as a result of the assault. Several minutes later, the defendants were detained at the Hidalgo, Texas, Port of Entry by Hidalgo Police officers as they were attempting to exit the United States while driving the victim’s vehicle.

In deciding their sentence, Judge Crane considered the fact that a weapon and intimidation were used to take the vehicle and the extent of each of the defendant’s involvement in the carjacking—noting that Fuente-Monton had been the one who brandished the weapon while Munoz-Martinez had been the one who drove off in the vehicle. Following completion of their term of imprisonment, the court ordered each defendant to serve a three-year term of supervised release.

The defendants have been in federal custody without bond since their July 3, 2010, arrest. They will remain in U.S. Marshals custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future where they will serve their sentence.

This investigation leading to the charges against Fuente-Monton and Munoz-Martinez was conducted by the FBI with the assistance of the McAllen Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Juan Villescas and Patricia Rigney prosecuted the case.