11 Sentenced In Texas-Based Human Smuggling Ring
LAREDO (AP) — Nearly a dozen members of a family-run human smuggling organization were sentenced in Texas.
The Laredo Morning Times reports that the 11 defendants were charged with conspiring, helping or attempting to transport immigrants living illegally in the U.S. around the country, from September 2015 to June 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfredo De La Rosa says parents, uncles and in-laws were involved in the long-standing human smuggling ring.
Court documents show multiple witnesses admitted to paying between $5,000 and $10,000 to be transported around the U.S.
Sandra Gongora was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison. De La Rosa says she was second in command.
Court records say the group's leader, Jose Andres Gongora Jr., is awaiting sentencing.