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Two men convicted of stealing nearly $1 million worth of border fencing from Strong Structural Steel in Pharr in 2021 have been sentenced to time served.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa sentenced Juan Nestor Rojas and Jose Emmanuel Gonzalez on Tuesday afternoon, court records show.
Rojas got time served for the 743 days he spent in jail and two years supervised release while Gonzalez got time served for the 417 days he spent in jail and two years supervised release.
The theft happened in December 2021.
At the time, Jerry Ring, vice president of the business, told Pharr police he noticed 110 border wall panels were missing from the business. They had been there two days earlier.
The panels were valued at $9,085 each for a total of $999,350, according to an estimate Ring shared with Pharr police.
The theft was caught on surveillance video.
At the time, authorities said Ring believed the theft was an inside job and that the surveillance video showed four men with five heavy-duty trucks at around 5:30 a.m. the day of the theft. Four of those trucks were hauling large heavy-duty flatbeds.
It’s not immediately clear if anyone else has been charged.
Rojas, who reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, was arrested on July 5, 2022.
Gonzalez was arrested on Nov. 18, 2022. He also reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
