Lourdes Ortiz Casteneda has been sentenced to 34 months in prison.

She is described as the Chief Financial Officer of a large alien-smuggling organization operating in Southern California for several years. The organizations leader, Gerardo Rigoberto Barojas-Saavadra, was previously sentenced to 71 months in custody. The human smuggling organization operated from 2019 through 2021. Barojas, known as El Jefe, admitted that more than 100 undocumented immigrants into the U.S. from Mexico charging between $7,000 and $8,000 per person. U. S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Boulevard Station led the investigation. It was revealed that while in custody on various state charges, Barojas continued to run the illegal operation with the help of Ortiz and others.