golden — A 35-year-old man has been sentenced to four years in prison for smuggling nine people into the United States.
Bernardino Fuentes-Espinoza was found guilty in March on seven counts of smuggling humans under a year-old state law.
On July 16, Fuentes-Espinoza and Guadalupe Alvarez, 42, were arrested by Wheat Ridge police after trying to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at a convenience store at West 32nd Avenue and Youngfield Street.
Fuentes-Espinoza had stopped at the store to repair a broken taillight on the van he was driving. The nine van passengers went inside and Fuentes-Espinoza attempted to use the fake bill to buy drinks and other items.
The store clerk called police. Two of the van passengers fled. The remaining passengers — a woman and six men aged 18-38 — told police they had paid up to $2,500 each to transported illegally from Mexico into the United States.
“We are very pleased with this sentence,” said District Attorney Scott Storey. “This is only the second of our human smuggling cases in which the judge has imposed a prison sentence. This was the first human smuggling case to go to trial in Colorado. Without witnesses who were smuggled, these cases can be very difficult to prosecute at trial.”
Judge M.J. Menendez noted the danger involved for those being transported in vehicles designed to carry far fewer passengers.
She also said her decision came down to the deterrence factor and legislative intent.
“The legislature passed this bill into law after people in a van being transported to another place were killed,” Menendez.
Fuentes-Espinoza is believed to be a U.S. citizen by marriage and living in Las Vegas. Because he received a prison sentence, he will be deported at the end of his sentence.
Alverez pled guilty in October to conspiracy to commit human smuggling. He has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and will be picked up by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deported after serving his sentence.
