Men Plead Guilty To Smuggling 50 Immigrants Into L.A. Harbor
Friday, October 29, 2004
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two men pleaded guilty to smuggling 50 Mexican nationals into the United States by crowding them into the small cabin of a rented luxury yacht, the Department of Homeland Security said.
On Oct.18, Gregory Ray LaBono, 48, of Lomita and 21-year-old tropical-fish dealer Vernon Eugene Siegel of Big Pine, Fla., each admitted to one felony count of conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to enter the United States, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice.
Their 44-foot yacht was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard near an entrance to Los Angeles Harbor on Aug. 30.
The men face up to 10 years in prison. Their sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 10.
Customs officials said the case shows the increasing desperation of smugglers because of increased border security in Arizona and Southern California.
The immigrants, who were packed into an area designed to sleep eight people, were near the end of a daylong journey from the Mexican port city of Ensenada, officials said. They included a 3-year-old boy and a woman in the last month of pregnancy.
The immigrants told investigators they had paid $3,000 each for the trip, Kice said.
Friday, October 29, 2004
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two men pleaded guilty to smuggling 50 Mexican nationals into the United States by crowding them into the small cabin of a rented luxury yacht, the Department of Homeland Security said.
On Oct.18, Gregory Ray LaBono, 48, of Lomita and 21-year-old tropical-fish dealer Vernon Eugene Siegel of Big Pine, Fla., each admitted to one felony count of conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to enter the United States, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice.
Their 44-foot yacht was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard near an entrance to Los Angeles Harbor on Aug. 30.
The men face up to 10 years in prison. Their sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 10.
Customs officials said the case shows the increasing desperation of smugglers because of increased border security in Arizona and Southern California.
The immigrants, who were packed into an area designed to sleep eight people, were near the end of a daylong journey from the Mexican port city of Ensenada, officials said. They included a 3-year-old boy and a woman in the last month of pregnancy.
The immigrants told investigators they had paid $3,000 each for the trip, Kice said.