TUCSON, Ariz. – LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – Sassandra Guadalupe Moreno, 33, of Phoenix, was sentenced in Tucson to 15 months in prison by U.S. District Judge David C. Bury for Conspiracy to Transport an Illegal Alien for Profit.
When Moreno pleaded guilty on June 26, 2007 she admitted that on April 30, 2007, she had applied for admission into the United States through the pedestrian lane at the Nogales Port of Entry in southern Arizona. She was escorting a four-year-old boy who Moreno claimed was her son and a U.S. citizen. She then presented her own son’s birth certificate to U.S. Customs officials.
At the secondary inspection station, Moreno stated the boy was actually her cousin’s son. She eventually admitted that she was not related to the child, did not know his parents and was going to receive $200 for smuggling and transporting the child to Phoenix. The boy was determined to be a Mexican citizen present in the U.S. illegally was turned over to the Mexican Consulate. He has since been reunited with his family in Mexico.
The investigation in this case was conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Nogales, Arizona. The prosecution was handled by Mary Sue Feldmeier, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
CASE NUMBER: CR-07-0942-TUC-DCB-GEE
RELEASE NUMBER: 2007-201(Moreno)
