Two Mexican nationals pleaded guilty to alien smuggling charges in San Diego federal court Thursday, and one admitted that she bribed a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer with cash and sexual favors in order to illegally smuggle undocumented people through the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Miriam Juarez-Herrera, 35, and Gilberto Aguilar-Martinez, 31, pleaded guilty to bringing in unlawful aliens for financial gain. Juarez-Herrera also pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official. Customs and Border Protection Officer Jose Luis Cota has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Cota, Juarez-Herrera and Aguilar-Martinez were arrested last September after a smuggling event at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and following a lengthy investigation by the Border Corruption Task Force.
In her plea agreement, Juarez-Herrera admitted that from at least November 2015 through September of last year, she conspired with Cota and Aguilar-Martinez to smuggle and transport unlawful aliens from Mexico into the United States for financial gain — charging as much as $15,000 per person.
Juarez-Herrera located and recruited undocumented aliens in Mexico who wanted to be smuggled into the United States, negotiated the smuggling fees and paid bribes to Cota — in the form of cash and sexual favors — in order for her to smuggle the undocumented aliens through Cota’s vehicle inspection lane at the border.
Juarez-Herrera admitted that she successfully used the smuggling method to bring at least 10 unlawful aliens from Mexico into the United States.
According to his plea agreement, Aguilar-Martinez was responsible for transporting the unlawful aliens in the United States once they came across the border.
Court documents show that upon delivery to their family in the United States, Aguilar-Martinez collected the $15,000 smuggling fee.
A sentencing hearing for Juarez-Herrera and Aguilar-Martinez is set for April 7.
–City News Service
