Migrant Smugglers Get 12 Years in the Slammer

34 people in a 36' "Go-Fast" Boat; One Dies from Pounding

Sending migrant smugglers a scathing message; Federal Judge Michael Moore
sentenced three Cuban parolees to12-year prison sentences each Jan. 31, for their role in smuggling 31 Cubans, and causing the death of a migrant in a failed smuggling attempt
July 8, 2006. Calling them “mercenaries” Moore handed Rolando Gonzalez-Delgado and Henrich Castillo-Diaz their sentences after the duo plead guilty to 68 counts of alien smuggling resulting in the death of a young woman, and after the conviction of Amil Gonzalez-Rodriguez in a trial in federal court in Key West, Fla.

These convictions were the result of the investigative efforts of the Coast Guard
Investigative Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border
Protection agents.

The sleek 36-foot vessel, equipped with three outboard motors, was detected by the Coast Guard Cutter Decisive, 39 miles south of Key West. The crew of the 210- foot,
Mississippi-based cutter launched their small boat and notified Sector Key West which
also launched a vessel to intercept. During the pursuit, the suspected smugglers used their boat to attempt to ram the Coast Guard vessel more than five times. After the operator refused to stop his vessel, a specially trained and qualified Coast
Guardsman then fired two rounds from a shotgun into one of the engines of the fleeing vessel.

The grossly over-loaded go-fast vessel eventually stopped four miles south of Boca Chica, Fla. “This was a horrific voyage for these migrants and has resulted in a tragedy,” said Capt. Phil Heyl, former commander of Coast Guard Sector Key West.
When Coast Guard personnel boarded the vessel they immediately identified three
migrants in need of medical attention. The flight surgeon was on scene shortly after
sunrise and recommended one woman with severe bruises to her face and apparent head injuries, be transferred to awaiting EMS personnel in Key West.

En route to Key West the woman lost consciousness and was pronounced dead by local EMS. “There was no way for these people to brace themselves against the impact of the
boat slamming into the seas,” Heyl said. These ruthless smugglers recklessly placed these people in harm’s way by operating at high rates of speed in seas of up to four feet,” he added.

In a Miami federal courtroom filled with numerous spectators, Moore said, “smugglers
are going to pay a higher price for smuggling. No slap on the wrist,” as he read the numerous counts against each defendant. --Louis Diaz, D7, USCG