Aryan Brotherhood of Texas Member Pleads Guilty to Migrant Smuggling

A member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges for his role in trying to sneak two migrants past a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint.

This week, 33-year-old Cody Michael Matousek, an alleged member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas in Galveston, entered a guilty plea in federal court on the charge of human smuggling and human smuggling conspiracy. He remains in federal custody pending sentencing. Matousek’s co-conspirator, 38-year-old Guadalupe Levario, also pleaded guilty to the charge but was allowed to remain free on bond.

According to information provided to Breitbart News by the U.S Attorney’s Office, the charges against the two men stem from a February 8 human smuggling attempt where they tried to use a wrecker service to move a pickup truck past a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint. Inside the towed vehicle hid two migrants from Brazil.

Matousek originally picked up the two migrants a day prior in Mission, Texas, and moved them to a stash house. From there, Matousek and Levario organized for an apparently uninvolved wrecker service to transport the “broken down” vehicle through a checkpoint. The tow driver assented to a search of the vehicle, revealing the hidden Brazilians. The illegal immigrants then advised authorities about their smugglers waiting at a rendezvous point in Kingsville.

Prosecutors said Matousek was the subject in other investigations involving a human smuggling cell run by the Aryan Brotherhood. Authorities singled out Matousek as one of the main organizers.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.