McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — A South Texas man who was arrested four times in the past year on human smuggling charges has been sentenced to prison, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said Tuesday.

Felipe Montez, 32, of the border town of Roma pleaded guilty and has been ordered to serve nearly four years in prison.

Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane, of the Southern District of Texas in McAllen, also has ordered Montez to three years supervised release after his sentence is served.

Montez was arrested on Dec. 23 in Starr County near the border town of Escobares as he waited in a vehicle by the Rio Grande for seven migrants who had illegally crossed into South Texas, Ganjei says.

As law enforcement approached, the seven migrants tried to flee but they were all arrested.

Law enforcement say Montez had been arrested by Texas officials in connection with four previous human smuggling events that all involved evading law enforcement, all within Starr County not too far from Roma.

Officials say Montez has been part of smuggling attempts involving 41 migrants. Two incidents resulted in injury to the migrants who were in his vehicle.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide border security initiative started under the new Trump administration that utilizes the Department of Justice to stop illegal border entries.

“If you smuggle, assist, or attempt to bring people into this country illegally, you are going to serve federal time,” Ganjei said. “The Department of Justice is going to be relentless in its pursuit of those that make their money violating our nation’s immigration laws.”

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.