MIAMI – A Miami District Court Judge sitting in Key West, Fla., Tuesday, sentenced eight Cuban migrant smugglers to a combined total of more than 31 years of imprisonment pursuant to convictions in five separate cases and sentenced another defendant to six months imprisonment for failure to heave-to.
Details of the cases are as follows:
- Geormani Hernandez Gari and Diuvel Rodriguez were both sentenced to 96 months imprisonment, two years supervised release and a $3,400 special assessment following an October conviction by jury for bringing aliens to the United States and not immediately presenting such aliens to an immigration officer at a designated port of entry, a violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a) (2) (B) (iii).
- Jesus Martin Carcia and Alfredo Rivera Pajon were both sentenced to 60 months imprisonment, three year supervised release, and a $200 special assessment following their guilty pleas to conspiracy to encourage and induce aliens to enter the United States resulting in serious bodily injury, a violation of Title 8, USC Section 1324 (a) (1) (A) (v) (I), and criminal violation of Title 50, USC Section 192, regulations governing unauthorized entry into Cuban territorial waters.
- Andy Lopez-Castellanos and Adrian Granado-Mena plead guilty to two counts of bringing aliens to the United States and not immediately presenting such aliens to an immigration officer at a designated port of entry, a violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a) (2) (B) (iii), and encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the United States in violation of Title 8, USC 1324 (a) (1) (A) (iv). Lopez-Castellanos was sentenced to 78 months imprisonment, three years supervised release, a $5,000 fine and a special assessment of $400. Granado-Mena was sentenced to 87 months imprisonment, three years supervised release and a $400 special assessment.
- Waldo Rodriguez-Garcia was sentenced to 37 months imprisonment, two years supervised release and a $200 special assessment pursuant to a guilty plea for encouraging and inducing an alien to enter the United States in violation of Title 8, USC Section 1324 (a) (1) (A) (iv) and failure to heave-to, a violation of Title 18, USC 2237.
- Felix Bravo-Leiva was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, two years supervised release and a $100 special assessment pursuant to a guilty plea for conspiracy to encourage and induce aliens to enter the United States in violation of Title 8, USC 1324 (a) (1) (A) (iv). The at-sea interdiction in this case required the use of disabling fire to stop the go-fast smuggling vessel, but the event happened before the enactment of the failure to heave-to statute. However, the judge applied a three-level enhancement under the sentencing guidelines for the defendant’s failure to stop with aliens onboard, recklessly creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person.
- Gustavo Evilio Garcia was sentenced to six months imprisonment, three years supervised release and 110 hours of community service pursuant to his guilty plea to failure to heave-to in violation of Title 18, USC Section 2237.
The United States Coast Guard and its border security partners interdicted 2,868 undocumented Cuban migrants who attempted to illegally enter the United States from the sea during fiscal year 2007. To date in fiscal year 2008, 508 undocumented Cuban migrants have been interdicted at sea.
