Tren de Aragua Illegal Alien Gang Arrests Tied to Shelby, Montana

Remember that big story we reported just a few days ago? Tren de Aragua (TdA) illegal alien gang members arrested here in Montana are now being deported, and a US citizen is being charged with smuggling them into the country.

When we shared the news with you over the weekend, you may have noticed that Border Patrol blurred out the woman's face. So who is the US citizen that was aiding in the smuggling of these TdA operatives? And what other info can we get about this case that was confirmed by the US Border Patrol Havre Sector.

TdA operatives were first stopped in Billings. The plates then traced back to Shelby, Montana. Here's more details we tracked down, according to the affidavit signed by a US Border Patrol agent in federal court in Great Falls, Montana.

(Big thanks to David Knobel, on Twitch and X as @lctrfan , for snagging court documents for us!)

The suspect Kristin Louise Mitchell, is a forty-one year-old female and citizen of the United States. 

Mitchell has previously been arrested and convicted of:
i. Bringing In Illegal Aliens Without Presentation – Guilty;
sentenced to 1 year and 1 day, with 2 years of supervised
release.
ii. Bringing in Illegal Alien for Financial Gain and Aiding and
Abetting – Guilty; sentenced to 24 months, with 3 years of
supervised release.

c. Mitchell has also committed multiple probation violations.

The Tren de Aragua illegal alien gang members were pulled over by Montana Highway Patrol back on February 21st on I-90 near Billings, Montana. 

At the time of the stop the vehicle was displaying fictitious Texas temporary tags. The three subjects identified by MHP at the time of the stop were Kledyber Gabriel Diaz-Rivas (DOB: October 1999 COB: Venezuela), Carlos Alexis Ponce-Lopez (DOB: October 1991 COB: Honduras), and Porfirio Alexander Suarez (DOB: May 1996 COB:
Venezuela). At the time of the traffic stop, the driver (Suarez) was cited, and
the subjects were released.

On February 25, 2025, a Sweetgrass Station Border Patrol Agent (BPA) ran
a vehicle registration check on a temporary Montana tag in Shelby, Montana, that came back to the same 2008 Hyundai registered to Kristin Louise Mitchell.

Mitchell has prior convictions for alien smuggling in California and have been encountered by Sweetgrass Border Patrol Agents in north-bound smuggling events. Havre Intelligence Agents contacted Toole County Sheriff’s Department (TCSO) to notify them of the situation and to ask if they’ve received any information regarding Mitchell. TCSO advised that Mitchell has had numerous complaints, and they have received tips from the public that she was harboring possible illegal aliens inside her home located at 235 11th Avenue North, Shelby, Montana, 59474.

When eventually questioned by the Toole County Sheriff's Office, Mitchell claimed the TdA gang members were "political asylees." A border patrol agent also reports in the federal affidavit that Mitchell had been spotted "transporting individuals to the U.S.-Canada Border and showing them where to cross in order to avoid the Port of Entry." The illegal alien suspects were transported to the Border Patrol station and "all
immigration checks showed no current status nor future immigration court dates."

The affidavit was signed by a Border Patrol agent in Sweetgrass who told the federal court that "Kristin Louis Mitchell aka Kristin Louis Short has violated 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(iii) – harboring of illegal aliens." (Note: I am not naming the Border Patrol agent in this story out of respect to the officer's privacy. However, I am happy to provide credit if the agent would be ok with us naming him here.)

Great job by Montana Highway Patrol, the Toole County Sheriff's Office, US Border Patrol...and the local citizens in Shelby who saw something and said something.