Deported 5 times, Mexican man returned to U.S., shot 5 at Las Vegas party, DOJ says

Bryan Horwath, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Dec 9, 2025

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A 39-year-old Mexican man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday after he was convicted of shooting five people at a Las Vegas birthday party in 2022 and was found to have entered the United States illegally five times during a period of over 10 years, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Jose Alberto Santacruz-Benitez, according to court documents and statements made in court, was found to be illegally in the U.S. and was deported in 2009, twice in 2014, and then again in 2017 and 2021.

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. Officials said Santacruz-Benitez helped to kidnap two men he believed had stolen drugs from him. Officials said he helped torture the victims for hours, which included mock drownings and “threats to kill them and their families.”

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.”

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