From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Mar 30 2010 - 12:51:31 EST
Eritrean Man Pleads Guilty to Alien Smuggling
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usn/brand/SIG=dnnmp5/*http:/www.usnewswire
.com/> PR Newswire
WASHINGTON, March 30, 2010
WASHINGTON, March 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Samuel Abrahaley
Fessahazion, 23, an Eritrean national, has pleaded guilty to helping smuggle
illegal aliens to the United States for private financial gain, announced
Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S.
Attorney Jose Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas and U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton.
Fessahazion, aka "Sami," aka "Sammy," aka "Alex" and aka "Alex Williams"
pleaded guilty yesterday in Houston before U.S. District Court Judge Nancy
A. Atlas to one count of conspiracy, and two counts of encouraging and
inducing aliens to come to, enter or reside in the United States in
violation of law for the purpose of private financial gain.
"By bringing this smuggler to justice, we have broken a chain that runs from
Africa to South and Central America, directly into the United States," said
Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. "We will not allow these
dangerous smuggling organizations to profit from bringing people illegally
into the United States."
"This prosecution strikes a significant blow to a criminal organization
engaged in a sophisticated international alien smuggling operation," said
U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas, "and
highlights the continuing cooperation and success of multiple law
enforcement agencies in interdicting such activities."
"Breaking this global alien smuggling network puts smugglers on notice that
we are coming after them and we will shut them down," said ICE Assistant
Secretary John Morton. "ICE will continue to identify the most dangerous
international human smuggling organizations for investigation and
prosecution."
According to plea documents, from at least June 2007 until approximately
January 2008, Fessahazion was the Guatemalan link of an alien smuggling
network that spans East Africa, Central and South America. Specifically,
according to the court documents, Fessahazion illegally entered the United
States at McAllen, Texas, on March 20, 2008. He applied for asylum on Sept.
30, 2008, claiming in his application that he was traveling across Africa in
2007 and 2008, fleeing persecution in Eritrea. However, according to court
documents, Fessahazion was actually in Guatemala during that period
facilitating the smuggling of East African aliens to the United States.
Fessahazion was granted asylum by the United States on Nov. 13, 2008.
Fessahazion admitted that for profit, he encouraged or induced at least six
and up to 24 illegal aliens, primarily East Africans, to come to, enter, or
reside in the United States knowing that they were not authorized to do so.
Fessahazion admitted he moved aliens from Honduras through Guatemala and
into Mexico illegally, at which point he referred aliens to a smuggler who
brought the aliens into the United States.
In one instance, according to court documents, Fessahazion and his
co-conspirators moved two illegal aliens from South Africa to Sao Paulo,
Brazil, then through Venezuela to Honduras where they were instructed to
contact Fessahazion. Once in contact, Fessahazion sent a driver to pick up
the two aliens and bring them to Guatemala City, Guatemala. In exchange for
$800, Fessahazion took the two aliens by bus to a house bordering Guatemala
and Mexico. There, working with a co-conspirator, Fessahazion provided
information to the couple on how to cross the border into Mexico illegally
and how to proceed once in Mexico to the United States border. Fessahazion
and the co-conspirator provided the couple with a guide who physically took
them into Mexico and provided contact information for an unidentified
smuggler known only by the alias "Matamoros," who would in turn take the two
aliens to the United States from Reynosa, Mexico. In February 2008, the
couple was illegally brought to the United States by guides working for
"Matamoros." According to court documents, the guides carried guns and
ferried the couple across the river on the Mexico/U.S. border in inner
tubes.
In another example, an alien was moved from Dubai to Brazil, then to
Honduras via Colombia and Costa Rica. According to court documents, a
co-conspirator told the alien he could get him from Dubai to Brazil, at
which point others would assist the alien each step of the way to the United
States in a "chain like" fashion.
According to court documents, once the alien arrived in Honduras,
Fessahazion sent a driver to retrieve him and bring him to Guatemala City.
In exchange for $700, Fessahazion took the alien to the Guatemala/Mexico
border and, along with a co-conspirator, gave the alien information on how
to cross the border into Mexico illegally and how to proceed once in Mexico
to the United States border, including contact information for "Matamoros."
The alien then traveled into Mexico, contacted "Matamoros" and traveled to
Reynosa as "Matamoros" instructed. In December 2007, according to court
documents, guides working for "Matamoros" took the alien and others to the
United States illegally by ferrying them across the river on the
Mexican/U.S. border in inner tubes. Shortly after crossing the border into
the United States, the alien and others were apprehended.
At sentencing, scheduled for June 14, 2010, Fessahazion faces a maximum
penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Pragna Soni of the Criminal
Division's Domestic Security Section, with the assistance of Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Edward Gallagher and Douglas Davis of the Southern District of
Texas.
The investigation was conducted by the ICE Special Agent in Charge (SAC)
Washington, with the assistance of SAC San Francisco, the ICE Human
Smuggling and Trafficking Unit, ICE Office of Intelligence, ICE Office of
International Affairs and U.S. Custom and Border Protection's Office of
Alien Smuggling Interdiction.
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