A Mexican national has been sentenced to 20 years in prison following a guilty plea in connection with the 2024 death of a Nashville restaurant owner, prompting federal immigration authorities to lodge a detainer request with Tennessee officials.
Ulises Raigoza-Martinez pleaded guilty on July 22, 2026, to charges including murder, tampering with evidence, theft over $10,000, and theft over $2,500.
The charges stem from an incident on June 19, 2024, in the parking lot of the Smokin’ Thighs restaurant in Nashville. According to local reporting, Raigoza-Martinez stopped in the parking lot to steal tools from a pickup truck owned by 42-year-old Matt Carney, the restaurant’s owner.
When Carney confronted him, Raigoza-Martinez drove away, striking Carney and causing him to land on the vehicle’s hood. Carney was thrown from the vehicle when Raigoza-Martinez made a turn, and he later died from his injuries at a hospital on July 4, 2024.
Police in South Nashville arrested Raigoza-Martinez on July 18, 2024. Following his conviction and 20-year sentence, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed a detainer on Raigoza-Martinez requesting that local authorities hold him upon completion of his prison term. Raigoza-Martinez stated that he entered the United States without authorization through Texas in 2021.
“This criminal illegal alien pleaded guilty to murder, theft, and tampering with evidence after he ran over and killed Matt Carney in Nashville, Tennessee,” said Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis in a statement released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “This criminal illegal alien should NEVER have been in our country to commit this heinous murder. We will work with our state and local partners in Tennessee to ensure that he is handed over to ICE custody once his sentence is complete, so that we can remove him from our country.”
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