"(US DOJ) British smuggler of illegal immigrants to U.S. sentenced to 3 years"
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Foreign National Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Smuggling
Undocumented Migrants from Africa into the United States
An Eritrean national, who is also a citizen of the United Kingdom, was
sentenced today to three years in prison for smuggling up to 99
undocumented migrants from Eritrea and Ethiopia into the United
States.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. of
the District of Columbia, and Special Agent in Charge Clark E. Settles
of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security
Investigations’ (ICE-HSI) Washington, D.C., Field Office made the
announcement. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton of the District of
Columbia imposed the sentence.
Habtom Merhay, 47, of the United Kingdom, pleaded guilty to human
smuggling charges on Sept. 24, 2014. He was originally arrested by
Moroccan authorities in August 2013 and extradited to the United
States on April 25, 2014. He has been in custody since his arrest.
In his plea agreement, Merhay admitted that from May 2009 to September
2010, he operated a human smuggling scheme from his residence in
Dubai. In exchange for fees of up to $14,000, he smuggled
undocumented African migrants into the United States by purchasing
airline tickets for their travel to South and Central America, and
then coordinating with a global network of smugglers to facilitate the
migrants’ travel into the United States.
The investigation was pursued under the Extraterritorial Criminal
Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the
Justice Department’s Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program
focuses on human smuggling networks that may present particular
national security or public safety risks or present grave humanitarian
concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence and
prosecutorial resources. ECT coordinates with and receives assistance
from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement
authorities.
The investigation was led by HSI’s Washington, D.C., Field Office with
the support of the Human Smuggling Trafficking Center and the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center. The case
was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jay Bauer of the Criminal Division’s
Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S.
Attorney Frederick Yette of the District of Columbia. The extradition
was handled by Trial Attorney Dan E. Stigall of the Criminal
Division’s Office of International Affairs.
The Department of Justice and HSI expressed their appreciation for the
significant assistance provided by the Moroccan Ministry of Justice.
14-1403
Received on Tue Dec 16 2014 - 20:29:35 EST