Texas oil worker jailed in one of Mexico’s most violent prisons over ‘honest accident’
A Texas oil field worker has been held in one of Mexico’s most dangerous prisons for nine months after crossing the border in what his family calls an “honest accident,” as they plead for his safe return.
Caden Hawkins, 23, has been imprisoned on weapons charges at Cereso Estatal No. 3 in Juarez since March 2. According to his mother, April Thomas, Hawkins accidentally crossed into Mexico while returning home to Hallsville from a job in Columbus, New Mexico.
Thomas said her son’s GPS unintentionally directed him toward the border, and he didn’t realize his mistake until it was too late to turn around.
“I am on the phone with Caden, and he starts telling me the speed bumps are so bad in this town he’s in, and then the next thing you know, he is telling me that he couldn’t turn around. We hear men around him yelling in Spanish,” Thomas recalled. Hawkins captured the tense moment on his phone just before he was handcuffed and taken away.
His mother later learned he had been detained for carrying a pistol and ammunition—a firearm he was legally licensed to possess—and insists the situation was an accident.
“My son is not a criminal,” she said. “He does not deserve this.”
Hawkins’ sister described the ordeal as “one of the hardest things any of us has ever endured.” “To hear him on the phone sounding distraught has taken a toll on all of us,” Haley Nicole Hawkins said.
Since his arrest, the family has spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to secure his release and is now appealing to lawmakers for help.
“We need somebody that is more powerful than we are,” Thomas said. East Texas State Rep. Jay Dean has alleged that Hawkins is being exploited as a “cash asset for a corrupt federal judge in Juarez” and that his family has been extorted for months.
Dean said the family has been forced to pay more than $1,000 weekly to ensure Hawkins has basic necessities like hot water, toilet paper, and some protection from violent inmates.
“This is absolutely unacceptable, and we need to band together and force our federal government to BRING CADEN HOME,” Dean wrote on Facebook. He, alongside U.S. Senator John Cornyn, has called for federal intervention and encouraged the public to contact government offices. Dean said he is “determined” to have Hawkins released by Christmas.
Lawyers for the family warned that Hawkins’ nine-month-old appeal could take up to two years for review and that he could face a sentence of up to four years. Cereso Estatal No. 3 is notorious for violent riots, overcrowding, gang dominance, and repeated security failures.
In January 2023, the prison was rocked by a riot orchestrated by the Los Mexicles gang, which left 10 guards dead and allowed about 30 inmates to escape, according to the El Paso Times.
About Post Author
