Two men were arrested on June 13, 2025, in a serious federal case involving illegal business with Venezuela. Juan Carlos Cairo-Padron, 56, from Huntsville, Texas, and Thomas Michael Fortinberry, 51, from Decatur, Alabama, were taken into custody for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions, smuggling goods, and laundering money. The arrests were made by federal authorities, and the two appeared in court the same day in the Southern District of Texas.
Cairo, who is a Venezuelan national and a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., and Fortinberry, an American citizen, are accused of working together for several years to secretly sell industrial goods to Venezuela. These goods included chemical catalysts and heavy-duty equipment used in steel and chemical processing—items that are not allowed to be sent to Venezuelan state-owned companies due to U.S. sanctions.
The Venezuelan companies they worked with, including the large steel producer Complejo Siderurgico de Guayana S.A. (COMSIGUA), are owned by the government of Venezuela. Because of political and security concerns, these companies have been on the U.S. sanctions list for years, meaning American companies and citizens are not allowed to do business with them.
How the Smuggling Scheme Worked
According to the federal complaint, Cairo and Fortinberry used several tactics to hide what they were doing. They created and operated companies with names like DRI Reformers and Reformer Technologies to act as fake fronts. These businesses helped disguise the real destination of the goods and who was paying for them.
They didn’t just use American companies. They also involved overseas companies and foreign bank accounts in countries like Spain, China, and Germany. These were used to make it look like the goods were being sold legally, when in fact, they were being sent to Venezuela.
In some cases, the men arranged for the goods to be shipped directly from China to Venezuela. In at least one instance, goods were shipped from the United States to Venezuela—an outright violation of U.S. export rules. The payment for these transactions moved through a maze of international bank accounts, all to make the trail harder to follow.
The total value of the goods and services sold was in the millions of dollars. Federal investigators say the financial transfers were structured in a way that was meant to hide the connection to Venezuela and make the operation look legitimate. But behind the scenes, the goal was to supply sanctioned Venezuelan companies while avoiding detection.
Serious Charges and Penalties
The charges Cairo and Fortinberry now face are extremely serious. If convicted, each could spend many years in federal prison. The penalties include:
- Up to 20 years for violating sanctions
- Up to 20 years for money laundering
- Up to 10 years for smuggling goods illegally
The case is being investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. Prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Southern District of Texas are handling the court proceedings.
It’s important to remember that a criminal complaint is only a set of accusations. Cairo and Fortinberry are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court.
