Two 35-year-old Brownsville residents have been sentenced for smuggling three illegal aliens in the trunk of a vehicle, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Ofelia Christine Monares and Michael Rosa pleaded guilty on April 1.
U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera has imposed a 40-month term of imprisonment for Monares while Rosa received 25 months. Both must also serve one year of supervised release following their sentences.
Both received upward adjustments or increases in their calculated sentencing guideline range for placing the lives of the aliens in jeopardy. Monares also received a sentencing enhancement for being a supervisor of the criminal activity.
At the time of their pleas, both Monares and Rosa admitted to knowingly smuggling three illegal aliens in the trunk of a Nissan Sentra.
On February 24, law enforcement observed several suspected illegal aliens walking along a dirt road near the Rio Grande River. The group climbed into the trunk of a Nissan Sentra, which then fled at a high rate of speed.
Authorities stopped the vehicle at the Highway 4 checkpoint and found three Vietnamese nationals in the trunk. All appeared dehydrated and were sweating profusely.
Rosa was the driver. He said Victor Hugo Medrano-Medrano and Monares had recruited him, and that Medrano and Monares picked him up in a white Nissan Titan and drove him to the Sentra. Rosa said they were to pay him $10,000 to transport the aliens to a local convenience store in Brownsville.
Video surveillance revealed the Titan crossing the checkpoint shortly after Rosa’s arrest. Authorities later located the Titan at the convenience store with Monares driving and Medrano in the passenger seat.
Monares said she was also to be paid $500 for every alien transported.
Medrano-Medrano, 38, Brownsville, has also pleaded guilty and is set for sentencing in September. He remains in custody.
Both Monares and Rosa have also been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined at a later date.
