Human Smuggling
Yervand Asriyants, an Azerbaijani man, was sentenced to three years and ordered to forfeit his house for smuggling dozens of Eastern Europeans into the United States.[1] Mr. Asriyants pleaded guilty on June 9, after being arrested in an investigation by the FBI and ICE.[2] The immigrants agreed to pay $5,000 to $10,000 a person to be brought from Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine through the Tijuana border.[3] The immigrants were caught when they attempted to claim US citizenship and presented borrowed or fake identification materials.[4] 43 people were caught attempting to cross the border, but investigators believe that many other people successfully made it into the US.[5]
It is illegal for a person to engage in a conspiracy,[6] or aid and abet the commission of a plan,[7]
- to knowingly bring an alien into the United States at a place other than an official port of entry, regardless of whether the alien has received prior official authorization;[8]
- to knowingly transport an illegal alien within the United States;[9]
- to knowingly harbor and illegal alien in any place;[10] or
- to encourage an alien to enter the United States, knowing that such entry is illegal.[11]
8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii) makes it a crime for a person, knowing that an alien has not received prior official authorization to enter the United States, to bring that person into the US for the purpose of financial gain. The punishment for violating this section is a fine, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.[13]
[1] Onell R. Soto, Eastern Europeans Sneaked into U.S., San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 7, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I).
[7] Id. U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(II).
[8] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(i).
[9] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii).
[10] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii).
[11] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv).
[12] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(B).
[13] Id. § 1324(a)(2)(B).
posted by McNabb Associates, P.C. @ 4:29 PM
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