GOLDEN — One of two men arrested in September for illegally driving 12 people from Mexico through Colorado on their way to Chicago pleaded guilty today to one count of human smuggling.
Guadalupe Arce-Tellez, 21, was stopped by Colorado State Patrol troopers for weaving on eastbound Interstate 70 near Floyd Hill.
The arrest affidavit stated that the 12 van occupants said they were not in the United States legally and that Arce-Tellez and a passenger, Miguel Velasquez-Garcia, were being paid to take the van and passengers to Chicago.
Arce-Tellez will be sentenced Jan. 28. He could face four to 12 years in prison before he is deported. Velasquez-Garcia will be arraigned Dec. 10.
“Human smuggling has become an issue for jurisdictions like Jefferson County because we are a major corridor from the Mexican border,” Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey said. “We will continue to be committed to prosecuting human smugglers under the law passed by the Colorado legislature in 2005.”
