A 39-year-old Mexican National residing in Tifton, Georgia pleaded guilty in federal court to the offense of Conspiracy to Transport Unauthorized Aliens, the District of North Dakota U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Rodolfo Arzola-Carrillo pled guilty on June 7 in a North Dakota court before Chief Judge Peter D. Welte, who imposed the sentence of 18 months in Federal Prison, one-year supervised release, and $100.00 Special Assessment.
Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Transport Unauthorized Aliens –https://t.co/33mqvUWqvr
— US Attorney N.Dakota (@USAO_ND) June 8, 2023
As a result of an investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Arzola-Carrillo conspired, coordinated, and partly carried out the smuggling of seven illegal immigrants – including two minors – from Mexico into North Dakota and down to Georgia from the United States-Canada border in November of last year.
As the weather deteriorated, the plan was abandoned. A combination of snow, freezing temperatures, and wind caused the group to seek help from the Pembina County Sheriff’s Office, who responded to aid all nine individuals and notified the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Attorney’s Office notes
“As this case and others have shown, attempting to smuggle human beings across the northern border is not just illegal and exploitative, it is also a threat to human life. The U.S. Attorney’s office will continue working with the U.S. Border Patrol and our partners in federal, state, and local law enforcement to hold smugglers accountable, maintain the rule of law, and keep people safe,” District of North Dakota U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider said in a statement.
“Human smuggling can be very dangerous and I’m glad that this came to a successful law enforcement resolution,” Chief Patrol Agent Scott D. Garrett added in a statement.
The Border Patrol’s Grand Forks Sector, which is responsible for 861 miles of international border located along the northern portions of North Dakota and Minnesota, reported 119 encounters with illegal immigrants from October 2022 through April 2023, surpassing the entire total from the previous fiscal year.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network.
