Overview
- He pleaded guilty to one conspiracy count and three counts of smuggling for profit and will be sentenced in September with a five-year minimum and up to 15 years.
- Court papers say he directed the operation from at least October 2024 through June 2025, dispatching drivers to move people from the border to stash houses in northern New York and hotels in Plattsburgh.
- In January 2025, he sent a partner to move 12 people from Canada, and a Border Patrol stop near the border led to a chase that ended with two vehicles holding 12 migrants in northern New York.
- He paid facilitators per person, including $100 each for the January load, which shows a low-cost, for-profit model that treats smuggling like a transport service.
- Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, CBP’s targeting center, and DOJ’s Joint Task Force Alpha led the case, reflecting a coordinated push to dismantle organized smuggling networks.