LAREDO, Texas - A naturalized U.S. citizen from Cuba who had been residing in Louisville, Kentucky, has been ordered to federal prison following his convictions in two separate cases involving the smuggling of illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Yudelvis Alberto Jimenez-Elvirez, 29, entered a guilty plea Oct. 7, 2015, to smuggling illegal aliens and was released on bond. That same evening, he was arrested again on similar charges. He went to trial in that case and was convicted Dec. 16, 2015, after only 15 minutes of deliberation.
Today, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo, who presided over the trial, handed Jimenez-Elvirez a total 97-month sentence to run concurrently on both cases.
Also sentenced today was Ricardo Gallo, 31, a U.S. permanent resident alien also from Cuba, who had pleaded guilty in the conspiracy involving the October 2015 smuggling attempt. He will serve 41 months in prison and must pay a $5000 fine.
At trial, Border Patrol agents testified about a semi-tractor and trailer being followed by a Chevrolet Tahoe that arrived at the Freer Border Patrol immigration checkpoint on the night of Oct. 7, 2015. Both vehicles displayed Florida license plates. Immediately after the 18-wheeler driver - Gallo - had been cleared to proceed, law enforcement learned that trailer had been detained on June 30, 2015, and used in an unsuccessful attempt to smuggle 17 Mexican and Guatemalan nationals illegally in the United States.
Agents pursued the 18-wheeler, but were unable to make contact with its driver because Jimenez, driving the Tahoe, blocked the agents’ official vehicle. Both vehicles were traveling at 80-85 miles per hour. Agents were eventually able to stop both vehicles and discovered 27 aliens sitting atop cargo of crushed aluminum cans in the trailer.
Five of the 27 aliens testified at trial, reporting that they or family members had made financial arrangements with smugglers in Mexico to smuggle them into country and to deliver them to various destinations within the United States. They testified about swimming or wading the Rio Grande River and entering Laredo illegally without inspection, later being taken to a warehouse in Laredo to wait for the trailer that would smuggle them further.
Jimenez and Gallo will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by Border Patrol and Homeland Security investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Jose Homero Ramirez prosecuted the cases. AUSA Shawn Coker handled the sentencing hearing today.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
