Man caught smuggling illegal immigrants in van last month pleads guilty - Local News

Man caught smuggling illegal immigrants in van last month pleads guilty - Local News: "Pablo Eliosa Lara, alias Hector Morales, 23, entered into a plea agreement Monday, pleading guilty to a single count of illegal transportation of an alien, according to online court records. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the agreement says.
A statement of facts filed with the court details Eliosa's March 2 traffic stop on I-81 north near Edinburg.
Eliosa was hauling 12 other people in a Chevrolet Ventura minivan, it says.
The middle seat had been removed so six people could lie on the floor of the van, with five people in and around the rear seat.
The statement says Eliosa was paid $1,000 to drive the immigrants from Phoenix to New Jersey.
It says that Eliosa had been 'voluntarily returned' to Mexico six times -- four times in February 2008, once in August 2008 and again last July.
In interviews with agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, some of the van's passengers said they weren't allowed to be out of the van before getting to New Jersey, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
'The occupants had to use
plastic bags to relieve themselves instead of being allowed to leave the van to use the restroom,' the affidavit says."