Press Release
ALIEN SMUGGLERS PLEAD GUILTY TO FAILED SMUGGLING VENTURE
January 21, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Rear Admiral Steve Branham, Commander 7th Coast Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, Matthew Zetts, Chief Patrol Agent, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Harold Woodward, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Randy Donnelson, Director of Air Operations for Miami Air and Marine Branch, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, announced that on January 16, 2009, defendants Osmin Nodarse, 41, and John Sosa, 26, each pled guilty to one count of conspiring to encourage and induce an alien to come to, enter, and reside in the United States, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) and Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(1). Both defendants face up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
During their pleas, Nodarse and Sosa admitted that on October 10, 2008, they traveled in two separate vessels to Freeport, Bahamas, for the purpose of picking up and transporting Haitian nationals to the United States. Upon their arrival in Freeport, Sosa and Nodarse loaded 25 Haitian nationals onto their 2 boats knowing that the Haitian nationals had no authorization to enter the United States. After loading the 25 Haitian nationals onto their two vessels, Nodarse and Sosa began their trip to Miami in an effort to bring the 25 Haitian nationals to the United States.
Later that same day, Nodarse and Sosa were interdicted by U.S. authorities while traveling toward the coast of Florida. The vessel captained by Nodarse was stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard 30 nautical miles off the coast of Boca Raton, Florida. The vessel captained by Sosa was interdicted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection 5 nautical miles east of the coast of Fort Lauderdale. None of the 25 Haitian nationals found onboard the two vessels had legal permission to enter the United States and all were processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers for removal from the United States.
Mr. Acosta commended the cooperation and investigative efforts of the 7th Coast Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Brown.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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