A
Guatemalan national who admitted playing a central role in a large-scale human
smuggling organization that brought thousands of illegal aliens from Central
America to Southern California, often holding them against their will in
so-called drop houses, has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
Fredy
Oswaldo Gamez Reyes, 44, was sentenced Wednesday, February 6, 2013, by Judge S.
James Otero, who pointed to the smuggling organization's tactics, including the
use of weapons and guard dogs to intimidate the illegal aliens, as the basis
for the 96-month prison term.
Gamez
pleaded guilty in May 2012 to six criminal counts of harboring and concealing
illegal aliens for financial gain, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). According
to court documents, Gamez acknowledged he served as a supervisor for a criminal
organization that smuggled more than 6,000 illegal aliens into Southern California during a three-year period, beginning
in 2008, generating an estimated $10 million in income.
HSI's
probe revealed Gamez held a number of jobs within the organization, including
locating and renting drop houses, overseeing the operation of those locations,
and collecting smuggling fees from the illegal aliens' relatives in exchange
for the illegal aliens' release. HSI's investigation also uncovered numerous
incidents perpetrated by members of the organization involving beatings, sexual
assaults and hostage taking.
"As
this sentence makes clear, those who exploit people in this brutal and
despicable way will themselves face serious consequences," said Claude
Arnold, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles. "Alien smugglers view
their clients as nothing more than a payday and they have no qualms about using
threats and violence to collect their smuggling fees."
The
smuggling organization originally came to authorities' attention in July 2009
after HSI special agents and Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies responded to
a drop house in Compton
where 20 individuals were reportedly being held against their will. Two of the
captive aliens wrote a plea for help on a napkin and threw it out the window,
where it was found by neighborhood children.
Evidence
uncovered during the ensuing the investigation showed Gamez was responsible for
overseeing the operation of the Compton
location, along with three other human smuggling drop houses in Baldwin Park, Lynwood
and Hesperia.
HSI's
investigation into this smuggling organization is ongoing. To date, 11 other
individuals involved in the ring have been arrested and/or convicted of federal
charges, resulting in sentences of 33 to 51 months.
Two
Guatemalan men were sentenced by a federal judge Monday, January 14, 2013, to
lengthy prison terms for their roles in a hostage-taking conspiracy that
resulted in the violent treatment of smuggled aliens held captive in a Mesa drop house.
Domingo
Agustin-Simon, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell to 42
years in federal prison for conspiracy, hostage taking and brandishing a
shotgun in connection with hostage taking. Leonardo Rabanales-Casia, 30, was
sentenced at the same hearing to 25 years in prison for conspiracy and hostage
taking.
The
sentences follow the pair's October conviction by a federal jury on charges
stemming from a probe led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE)
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
"These
lengthy sentences serve not only to punish and deter such cruel and inhumane
activity but also to protect the public from dangerous individuals that prey
upon the vulnerabilities of their victims," said U.S. Attorney John S.
Leonardo.
"This
case illustrates the ruthlessness and brutality of the human smuggling
trade," said Matt Allen, special agent in charge of HSI Arizona. "The
smugglers treated the people in the drop house as a mere business commodity,
with no qualms about jeopardizing their lives in order to extort personal
profit. Investigating these cases is a top priority for HSI, and we will
continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring those who would
choose to exploit people in this despicable way to justice."
Evidence
presented at trial showed the defendants were part of an alien that smuggled
aliens into the U.S. to a
drop house in Mesa.
In August 2011, HSI special agents and officers from the Arizona Department of
Public Safety and the Phoenix Police Department went to the drop house and
found more than 40 illegal aliens being held inside. Trial testimony revealed
the smugglers used a shotgun to keep order in the house and threatened the
aliens with physical harm and death in an effort to extort monetary payments
from the aliens' families. One hostage was beaten by the smugglers and women in
the drop house were sexually assaulted.
Four
other co-defendants previously pleaded guilty in connection with their roles in
the drop house and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 24 months to
eight years.
The
case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine D. Keller and Sean K.
Lokey of the U.S. Attorney's Office-District of Arizona.
Late the night of Wednesday, November 28, 2012, special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) recovered a toddler who had been separated from her mother during a human smuggling venture.
The 23-month-old child was recovered Nov. 28 after being smuggled into the United States from Mexico. The mother was separated from the child following their illegal entry into the United States; she was subsequently apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Border Patrol officers near the south Texas border.
The girl's mother informed officers that she was in contact with smugglers about her daughter and that the smugglers were seeking additional money to return the child. Contact was made with an individual in Houston alleging to be the child's babysitter. After a series of calls, the child was delivered to HSI special agents in Houston. The young girl is currently in Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) custody. HSI is working with CPS to reunite the child with her mother.
Information developed by HSI Falcon Dam special agents revealed that smuggling arrangements were made to have the child transported to New York for a fee of $9,000. This investigation is ongoing.
Human smuggling is the importation of people into the United States by deliberately evading immigration laws. This includes bringing illegal aliens into the country, as well as the unlawful transportation and harboring of illegal aliens already in the country. Smuggling situations often involve death, rape, torture and assault.
HSI is the lead U.S. law enforcement agency responsible for combating human smuggling and human trafficking.
A Honduran national was sentenced Monday, November 5, 2012, to 35 years in federal prison following multiple convictions in a hostage-taking and alien-harboring conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by the Houston Police Department (HPD), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Cesar Avila, 38, was sentenced Nov. 5 to 420 months in prison and ordered him to pay a $1,000 special assessment fee by U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal. Avila was convicted of hostage-taking conspiracy, four counts of hostage-taking, using a firearm during a crime of violence, and four counts of aiding and abetting the harboring of illegal aliens. Avila was convicted by a jury following a three day jury trial that concluded June 6.
Additional testimony was presented by one of two female victims who Avila sexually assaulted. She provided graphic testimony about how she was abused, and how that abuse has affected her. In handing down the sentence, Judge Rosenthal noted that Avila's statement that he had himself been a victim of smugglers was "chilling" in light of the evidence presented at trial. As an illegal alien, Avila is expected to face deportation proceedings after he completes his 35-year prison sentence.
Trial testimony showed that on Aug. 19, 2011, the Houston Emergency Center received a 911 call from a subject who spoke only Spanish. The victim advised he was being held against his will at a house in Houston by alien smugglers who had been hired to smuggle him to an unspecified location in the United States. He claimed Avila was armed with a handgun and had threatened them with death, and they were in fear of their lives.
HPD officers eventually located the residence on the 100 block of Jamaica Street in Houston. The location had no windows and the French doors on the north side of the residence had the glass panes covered with aluminum foil. Once inside the location, several people, who were later identified as hostages, began pointing to Avila as the hostage-taker and smuggler. Officers also discovered a semi-automatic handgun and a ledger detailing payments by the smuggling organization under the mattress where Avila was sitting.
Several of the aliens who were held hostage also identified Carlos Martinez-Aguilar, 44, an illegal alien from Mexico. They stated that Martinez-Aguilar came into the building where they were being held and drank beer with Avila in the hours prior to law enforcement arriving. They also stated that Martinez-Aguilar asked about the status of payments of smuggling fees. The victims indicated Martinez-Aguilar was not involved in abuse or threats, and he had provided them food and blankets. Officers discovered Martinez-Aguilar had been living in the larger house in front of the building where the aliens were housed.
One of the victims advised officers he had been in the Houston area for about eight days, and had been moved from house to house in the Houston area with five other aliens. He admitted he was in the country illegally and that he had paid smugglers $5,000 to smuggle him into the United States. He identified Avila as the subject who was holding him. He stated that Avila was constantly armed with the handgun, and had threatened to kill him if he tried to escape. Further testimony revealed that the smugglers were threatening to kill him if his family did not pay an additional $5,000.
The mother of one of the victims testified at trial that she and her family had been contacted by smugglers demanding more money and threatening her son's life, as well as the life of her family if the additional money was not paid. She was so frightened she contacted police who conducted surveillance to protect them. Her daughter also testified that the family raised money by borrowing it from friends, and they sent as much money as they could via wire transfer to smugglers in Mexico.
Avila will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Martinez-Aguilar was previously sentenced to 36 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to one count of harboring illegal aliens.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Searle and Douglas Davis, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.
