Deported 5 times, Mexican man returned to U.S., shot 5 at Las Vegas party, DOJ says
A Mexican man who entered the United States illegally after being deported five times was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday after he was convicted of shooting five people at a Las Vegas birthday party in 2022, federal prosecutors said.
Jose Alberto Santacruz-Benitez, 39, was found to be illegally in the U.S. after he was deported in 2009, twice in 2014, and then again in 2017 and 2021, according to a Department of Justice news release that cited court documents and statements made in court.
On Sept. 18, 2022, according to the Metropolitan Police Department, Santacruz-Benitez shot five people during a surprise birthday party in northeast Las Vegas.
Prior to his first removal from the country in 2009, Santacruz-Benitez was convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, the DOJ press release said. Officials said Santacruz-Benitez helped to kidnap two men he believed had stolen drugs from him. Santacruz-Benitez helped torture the victims for hours, which included mock drownings and “threats to kill them and their families,” prosecutors said.
Santacruz-Benitez was convicted of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon in a Nevada court after the 2022 shooting.
At different times, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections website, Santacruz-Benitez has gone by the name Alberto Santacruz, Alberto Cruz Santa, and by the nickname “Spider.”
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
