The former crime victims coordinator for the Starr County District Attorney’s Office was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday for using a government vehicle in a human smuggling operation.

Bernice Annette Garza had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport people in the country illegally within the United States.

Authorities arrested Garza on Dec. 7, 2022 after a traffic stop near Victoria where deputies found four people in the country illegally inside a Starr County District Attorney’s Office vehicle.

The scheme to smuggle people spanned from June 1, 2022 to Dec. 7, 2022.

After Garza’s arrest, she admitted to being involved in the conspiracy with her co-defendants and “that they had made over forty (40) trips to transport undocumented aliens from the Rio Grande City,

See Full Page