Indictment links to smuggling and obtaining false Vermont documents

By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

A Migrant Justice leader in Burlington, who was detained by the Border Patrol in Richford last summer, has now been indicted on criminal charges of conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States, actually bringing aliens into the country, conspiracy to produce identity documents, and producing fraudulent identity documents, court records show.

The U.S. Border Patrol arrested Jose Ignacio De La Cruz De La Rosa, 30, recently of Burlington as he arrived at work in Essex this morning, officials said.

De La Cruz, also known as “Nacho,” is scheduled to have an initial appearance and arraignment this afternoon before Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss in Burlington.

“The nine-count indictment alleges that between November of 2022 and June of 2025, De La Cruz De La Rosa smuggled people across international borders and fraudulently obtained Vermont identification documents for people living outside Vermont,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ophardt said.

They included documents from the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles.

Two other persons also were charged in the 9-count federal indictment, but their names are blacked out, apparently because they are not in custody.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Turner has filed a lengthy motion on why De La Cruz is likely to flee and that he needs to be jailed pending trial.

De La Cruz reportedly participated in a multi-year conspiracy to illegally bring aliens to the U.S. and to transport them within the country in furtherance of their illegal entry, court records note.

De La Cruz also reportedly participated in a multi-year conspiracy to produce identity documents. As a part of the conspiracy case, De La Cruz renewed Vermont driver’s privilege cards for aliens living outside of Vermont, the indictment charges.

He also took learner’s privilege tests on behalf of others. De La Cruz reportedly received $500 per card, court records note.

De La Cruz faces up to 15 years of imprisonment if convicted, and a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years.

Ophardt commended the lengthy investigative work of the U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations.

“These are serious criminal offenses. I am grateful for the careful and thorough investigation conducted by our law enforcement partners,” Ophardt said. 

The case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Last year De La Cruz and his stepdaughter, Heidi Perez Alfaro, then 18, were living in Milton when the Border Patrol stopped them about noon June 14, 2025 while they said they were delivering meals to farm workers in Richford.

They were uncooperative with Border Patrol Agents, who were forced to break open a windw in their vehicle, court records note.   

A subsequent sworn affidavit from a veteran Border Patrol Agent elaborated the legal justification, including De La Cruz being linked to possible smuggling efforts.  The 18-page affidavit included details about an April 2025 incident that netted six arrests in Richford by the U.S. Border Patrol in Vermont.

The 2025 affidavit also noted De La Cruz was removed from the United States in 2022 at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Del Rio, Texas, but re-entered the country.

The specific details of the removal were limited due to COVID procedures when the Border Patrol was told under President Joe Biden to “catch-and-release” with as little human interaction as possible.

Court records note De La Cruz had re-entered the United States within a month of his removal.  He had 3-year-old child, who is a U.S. citizen, according to a 2025 court filing on his behalf. 

De La Cruz and Perez Alfaro, who are both Mexicans, had no legal status in the United States and been active with Migrant Justice, records show.  Migrant Justice, a non-profit advocacy group, had argued they were detained for no known reason.

The U.S. Border Patrol said otherwise and provided some specifics in the affidavit last year. 

The cellphone seized from De La Cruz during the traffic stop in Richford has the same number used during a smuggling event April 9 to April 11, 2025, the Border Patrol said in court records.  The cellphone number was used to facilitate transportation for at least one alien smuggled into the United States during the April case, records show.

Six illegal immigrants — two from Mexico, two from Venezuela and two from Ecuador — were apprehended during the April incident.  At least four were held for three days before pleading guilty in criminal court.  The four were sentenced to time served and eventually deported.

The Ecuadoran couple, who were operating the minivan in April, were identified as Manuel Rolando Meza-Cambo and a female co-worker listed as “D.C.C.C.” in court papers.  They both admitted they were in the country illegally and were living in Albany, N.Y., records show. 

Meza-Cambo, 35, struck a deal with the prosecution to plead guilty  to bringing in and harboring illegal aliens, records show.  It is unclear from federal court records what happened to his assistant in the smuggling operation.    

A longtime Border Patrol Agent, who was on duty in June 205 in the Richford area when the meals reportedly were being delivered, said the movements by De La Cruz’s van were suspicious and the conduct of the two occupants was dubious for a rural area with only a small number of residences and farms.

The nearby terrain is good for both smuggling aliens and avoiding detection, while also serving as a waiting area for past illegal border crossings, the agent noted.

“During one of these previous events, an alien smuggler used a large passenger van to pick up migrants after they had crossed illegally into the United States,” the affidavit said.

The Border Patrol asked a federal judge last year to allow for a complete forensic examination of De La Cruz’s cellphone to find more evidence of a conspiracy for human smuggling and illegal entry, court records note.

It proved to be a gold mine for information about the human smuggling operation, court records said.