Press Release
DOMINICAN BOAT CAPTAIN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGES OF ALIEN SMUGGLING WITH DEATH RESULTING
April 10, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, Harold Woodward, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Rear Admiral Steve Branham, Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, 7th District, announce that defendant Crecencio Hernandez, pleaded guilty yesterday, April 9th, to one count of conspiring to encourage and induce aliens to enter the United States illegally, resulting in six deaths. The alien smuggling charges stem from a November 21, 2008 thirteen count Indictment charging Hernandez with conspiracy to and the substantive charge of encouraging and inducing illegal aliens to enter the country illegally, which resulted in six deaths. Sentencing has been scheduled for June 19, 2009 at 11:30 a.m.
Hernandez admitted to the following facts in the written proffer filed with his guilty plea: On October 24, 2008, a wooden rustic vessel with forty or so foreign nationals from the Dominican Republic and Brazil set off from the coastal city of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and headed toward Miami, Florida. Hernandez had agreed with the Dominican organizers of the trip to captain the vessel. The purpose of the trip was to smuggle the passengers into the United States through Miami. Hernandez said that he knew that his passengers were not U.S. citizens and nationals, and that they did not have permission to enter the country. During the eight days it took to get to Miami, Hernandez admitted that he steered the vessel, helped navigate the route, directed the crew, and ordered the passengers to maintain calm.
On October 31, 2008, the wooden vessel hit a sandbar off the shore of Virginia Key, in Miami-Dade County, in the Southern District of Florida. The boat tipped over and most of the passengers and crew jumped into the water and began swimming for the shore. The weather was windy; the waters were rough; and the passengers, having been at sea for eight days with little water and food, were tired and weak. Six passengers died trying to swim to the shore. Two of the individuals were subsequently identified as Pedro Manuel Portes Paulino and Danny Rodriguez Hernandez. The other four passengers who died could not be identified.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard, and City of Miami Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Luck.
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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