Assistant U. S. Attorney Christopher Alexander (619) 546-6665
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY - May 8, 2017
SAN DIEGO - Issac Mahatma Osuna-Sanchez, the ringleader of an alien smuggling crew, was sentenced in federal court Friday to three years in prison for bringing 14 undocumented immigrants into the United States from Mexico in a small boat off the coast of California.
Osuna-Sanchez and three others - Enrique Ramirez-Fernandez, Mario Alejandro Sainz-Avila, and Hector Velasquez - pleaded guilty in connection with the events of November 4, 2016, when the U.S. Coast Guard encountered and stopped a vessel on the open sea operating at night, without any navigation or running lights. They discovered the smugglers and the undocumented immigrants on board.
At sentencing, U.S. District Judge William Q. Hayes found that Osuna-Sanchez was a manager of the smuggling venture and his conduct created a substantial risk to the immigrants on board the vessel.
U.S. Border Patrol agents identified one of the vessel’s occupants as a citizen of Nicaragua; the remainder were citizens of Mexico. Border Patrol agents arrested all eighteen occupants and transported them to the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station.
In addition to the smugglers, two of the others who were aboard the vessel - Ernesto Ignacio Madrigal-Garza and Danilo Alberto Mairena - had previously been deported to Mexico from the United States. They were prosecuted for unlawful reentry into the United States by a previously deported alien, in violation of Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1326. Madrigal-Garza’s prior criminal history involved felony convictions for access device fraud and one prior immigration offense. Mairena’s prior criminal history involved numerous misdemeanor and felony convictions involving violent crimes such as battery, assault, and numerous domestic violence related offenses.
The remaining twelve undocumented individuals, not charged as alien smugglers, were held as material witnesses.
Earlier, on April 19, 2017, Judge Hayes sentenced one of the vessel’s pilots, Mario Alejandro Sainz-Avila, to a prison term of 24 months, for his role in smuggling the fourteen undocumented aliens. In addition, Judge Hayes sentenced two others who aided in smuggling the aliens, Enrique Ramirez-Fernandez and Hector Velasquez, to thirteen months and one day.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 16CR2752-WQH
Issac Mahatma Osuna-Sanchez Age: 22 Tijuana, B.C., Mexico
Enrique Ramirez-Fernandez Age: 27 Ensenada, Mexico
Mario Alejandro Sainz-Avila Age: 31 Navolato, Sinaloa, Mexico
Hector Velasquez Age: 22 Navolato, Sinaloa, Mexico
SUMMARY OF SENTENCES
DEFENDANTS SENTENCE
Issac Mahatma Osuna-Sanchez 36 months of custody
Enrique Ramirez-Fernandez 13 months and one day of custody
Mario Alejandro Sainz-Avila 24 months of custody
Hector Velasquez 13 months and one day of custody
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Attempted Bringing in Undocumented Aliens for Financial Gain and Aiding and Abetting - Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii), and Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2.
Maximum penalty: 10 years’ imprisonment and $250,000 fine.
Bringing in Undocumented Aliens and Aiding and Abetting - Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(i) and (v)(II).
Maximum penalty: 10 years’ imprisonment and $250,000 fine.
AGENCIES
United States Coast Guard
United States Border Patrol
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
