Texas Border Business
AUSTIN – Former Texas 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrant Jose Miguel Zelaya-Ponce will spend nearly four decades behind bars following his recent sentencing in Harris Co. The now 22-year-old Honduran national was found guilty on enhanced charges of continuous sexual assault of a child and sentenced to 38 years in prison on Jan. 13, 2026.
In July 2024, the Texas Rangers received information from Border Patrol about a possible human smuggling case involving a female driver and two passengers – a male juvenile and an 11-year-old pregnant female – in Sierra Blanca. During the Texas Rangers’ investigation, the driver admitted she was in the country illegally with her two sons – the male juvenile passenger and another older son living in Houston who was identified as Jose Miguel Zelaya-Ponce. It was discovered that Zelaya-Ponce had impregnated the 11-year-old female passenger. The female driver was arrested for human smuggling of a minor under the age of 18, and a warrant for Zelaya-Ponce’s arrest was issued out of Harris Co.
The next month, in August 2024, Zelaya-Ponce was added to Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List and was captured on Aug. 23, 2024, by Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Criminal Investigations Division (CID) Special Agents assigned to the Texas Anti-Gang (TAG) Center in Houston, along with Texas Rangers and Texas Highway Patrol (THP) Troopers.
In the months following Zelaya-Ponce’s capture, DNA testing confirmed Zelaya-Ponce was the biological father of the young female victim’s child. Upon further investigation, law enforcement also learned that the young female victim had been living with Zelaya-Ponce in Houston and experienced continuous sexual abuse. Zelaya-Ponce was ultimately convicted in Harris Co. for continuous sexual assault of a child on Jan. 13, 2026, and sentenced to 38 years of confinement in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison.
Cases like this highlight the importance of collaborative investigative work between DPS and our partner law enforcement agencies. The department would like to specifically thank Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) and the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for their dedication and support in bringing justice to the female victim in this case.
About Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Program
Funded by the Governor’s Public Safety Office, Texas Crime Stoppers offers rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders or Criminal Illegal Immigrants.
DPS investigators work with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants lists who pose the most significant threat to public safety in the state. You can find the current lists — with photos — on the DPS website.
