Human trafficking 'guard' gets 4.5 years

[harrisonsdream]

Human trafficking 'guard' gets 4.5 years


Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

The last defendant convicted for his role as a guard of illegal immigrants in a smuggling for ransom case has been sentenced to more than 4 1/2 years in prison.

Vincente Paredes-Ariza, 26, of Mexico, was sentenced today to 55 months in federal prison on hostage-taking charges.

Paredes-Ariza is one four defendants charged and convicted for acting as guards over other foreign nationals smuggled into the United States by an organization operated by Cupertino Delgado-Miranda, 32, of Mexico.

Paredes-Ariza and three co-defendants, who had been smuggled into the United States, chose to pay off their smuggling debt by working as guards for Delgado-Miranda, the fifth defendant charged in the case.

The investigation that eventually led to the indictment of all five defendants began on July 30,2005, after a female hostage, who had been sexually assaulted escaped at a residence in the 2100 block of William Tell in Houston.

She ran to a neighboring residence and with assistance contacted law enforcement officials.

Paredes-Ariza and his three fellow guards, Carlos Gomez-Sanchez, 27, of Honduras, Fernando Olivacea-Reyes, 27, of Mexico, and Santos Netro-Azua, 37, were arrested at the William Tell residence and later convicted of holding undocumented immigrant prisoner while demanding family members pay for their release.

Delgado-Miranda was not found at the residence. However, several weeks later, after another group of illegal immigrants was found at yet another Houston area residence, ICE agents identified and arrested "Cooper."

Delgado-Miranda has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, without parole.

Paredes-Ariza's fellow guards have also been convicted and were sentenced in September 2006. Carlos Gomez-Sanchez and Fernando Olivacea-Reyes were each sentenced to 63 months in federal prison without parole. Santos Netro-Azua was sentenced to 48 months imprisonment.

All of these defendants are subject to deportation following their release from prison