Guatemalan national pleads guilty to human smuggling and holding undocumented immigrants hostage at LA house
A Guatemalan national pleaded guilty on Friday to leading one of the largest human smuggling organizations in the nation and admitted to holding certain immigrants hostage for lack of payment at his residence in the Westlake neighborhood, near downtown Los Angeles, according to federal prosecutors.
Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, 52, who went by the aliases of "Turko," "El Jefe," "Patrón," and "El Gallo," pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to bring undocumented immigrants to the United States, transport, and harbor undocumented immigrants in the United States for private financial gain and one count of hostage taking.
According to his plea agreement, his smuggling organization moved roughly 20,000 undocumented immigrants from Guatemala to the United States between 2019 and 2024.
Each immigrant was smuggled into the United States for a fee ranging between $15,000 to $18,000. Prosecutors said Mexican smuggling organizations were also involved, receiving payment to move the immigrants through Mexico and across the U.S.-Mexico border.
The U.S. operation involved smuggling cells, teams of drivers and operators of stash houses where immigrants were held. Renoj-Matul and other co-conspirators would hold immigrants in one of the stash houses on James M. Wood Boulevard in the Westlake district until their fee was paid. If payment was not made, they would be held against their will.
He admitted to holding two different people hostage at the Los Angeles home for lack of payment in 2024. One Guatemalan immigrant was held for two months. Renoj-Matul called the victim's mother and threatened to harm the victim, including by warning the victim "would come home in a box" if her smuggling fees were not paid, according to prosecutors.
Another undocumented immigrant was held hostage for four months in the house. "Renoj-Matul knowingly and intentionally seized and detained, and threatened to kill, injure, and continue to detain the victim to compel third persons to pay smuggling fees to the hostage takers as an explicit condition for the victim's release," the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote in a news release.
In other cases, once fees were paid, transport was arranged to other U.S. destinations, including Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
An April 21 trial is scheduled for co-defendants José Paxtor-Oxlaj, 45, a driver for the smuggling organization who is incarcerated in Oklahoma in connection with a November 2023 car accident resulting in the deaths of seven undocumented immigrants – including a 4-year-old child, and Cristóbal Mejia-Chaj, 50, of Westlake, Renoj-Matul's alleged right-hand man. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Helmer Obispo-Hernández, 42, a.k.a. "Xavi," a lieutenant in the criminal organization, faces federal criminal charges in this case and is a fugitive.
An Oct. 2 sentencing hearing is scheduled for Renoj-Matul, where he will face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
