Smuggling, enslaving illegal Mex immigr.

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Registered: 03-23-2003
Smuggling, enslaving illegal Mex immigr.
2
Fri, 11-27-2009 - 2:22pm



Just lovely...sheesh...


 



Friday, November 27, 2009 - Page updated at 12:01 AM








Pacific pair accused of smuggling, enslaving illegal Mexican immigrants

By Lornet Turnbull


Seattle Times staff reporter



For at least three years, a couple in the town of Pacific ran a smuggling operation that brought illegal immigrants from Mexico to be housed in the garage of their home, where the immigrants lived as indentured servants while paying off their smuggling debt, according to court documents.


Maria Bartola Santos-Gonzalez and Juan Gonzalez-Guerra slipped illegal immigrants from Aguascalientes, Mexico, across the border and up into Washington state, for $3,000 to $3,500 each, federal and state documents allege.


Among their victims was an 8-year-old girl, whom the couple brought to the United States in 2007, along with her parents and brother. The girl described to a school counselor and to a Pacific detective how Gonzalez-Guerra, 55, a legal permanent resident, sexually molested her.


Her 7-year-old brother told of how Santos-Gonzalez, 63, a U.S. citizen, would sometimes tie him up, cover his mouth with a handkerchief or tape and beat him with a stick, leaving purple marks.


The family said they were fed twice a day and a chain was kept around the refrigerator so they couldn't get more food.


Family members told a Pacific detective the couple threatened to "cut out their tongues" if they told anyone about what happened and told the immigrants the police wouldn't listen to them anyway because they were undocumented.


Phony work permits


The allegations are laid out in a federal grand-jury indictment that describes a smuggling network that included the couple's son and others and stretched from Pacific to the west central Mexican city of Aguascalientes.


It says Santos-Gonzalez arranged for phony work permits so the smuggled immigrants could find employment once they got here. Most found jobs in construction and agriculture.


Santos-Gonzalez and Gonzalez-Guerra face multiple counts of federal conspiracy to smuggle and harbor aliens. Individually, Santos-Gonzalez was charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud. At their arraignment last month, both pleaded not guilty to all counts.


In addition to the federal charges, the state of Washington is charging Gonzalez-Guerra with first-degree child molestation and his wife with third-degree assault on a child.


The couple were first arrested on those charges by Pacific police in July, posted bail, and then were rearrested in October after the federal grand-jury indictment.



"This is the kind of crime that is not so unusual as it is difficult to uncover because the nature of the crime is to conceal," said Ye-Ting Woo, assistant U.S. Attorney. "It's exploitation of immigrants."


If convicted, Gonzalez-Guerra faces possible deportation after serving prison time. His attorney declined comments. His wife's attorney could not be reached for comment.


The immigrants the couple brought here might qualify for certain types of legal immigration status. Their current addresses are undisclosed.


Pacific police say they were surprised to learn of a smuggling ring operating within their small town, just next door to the city of Auburn, although the operation was well known to many of the local Latinos who make up nearly 7 percent of the town's population.


Woo said the home might have been used as a base for smuggled immigrants long before 2006, but so far that's the earliest the government has been able to document its first arrivals.



remainder of article at:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010365234_smuggle27m.html


Seattle Times researcher Miyoko Wolf and photographer Greg Gilbert contributed to this report.






Copyright © The Seattle Times Company



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Edited 11/27/2009 2:34 pm ET by cl-nwtreehugger

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Registered: 03-18-2000
Sun, 11-29-2009 - 9:05am

>"The operation began to unravel when the girl's mother told a church counselor that her daughter had been molested by the man they had been living with. That counselor reported it to a school counselor and the local police."<


TG this mother told someone.


How many more illegals are living in similair conditions?


 


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Avatar for ddnlj
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 11-30-2009 - 8:24am

Interestly, my maternal great-great grandfather

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