PHOENIX, Ariz. – A Colombian national was indicted Nov. 6, by federal grand jury on charges related to human smuggling. Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s United States Border Patrol conducted the investigation in this case.
According to the criminal complaint and subsequently-filed indictment, a case against Janine Torres-Centeno, a Colombian national, began in 2022, when numerous Columbian nationals were encountered at the border.
The smuggled individuals contacted Torres-Centeno after learning from others who had successfully crossed into the United States illegally that she could coordinate their illegal entry into the United States. Torres-Centeno informed the Colombian nationals they would need to travel to Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico and pay a fee between $1,200.00 USD to $2,000.00 USD per person to cross into the United States. Once the Colombian nationals were in Sonoyta, Torres-Centeno coordinated their transportation to local stash houses, while others ultimately crossed illegally into the United States.
Conspiracy to Encourage and Induce an Alien to Unlawfully Enter the United States carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Bringing an Illegal Alien to the United States for Profit carries at least a three-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and a fine of up to $250,000.
An indictment is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt.
An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stuart Zander and Matthew Doyle, District of Arizona, Phoenix, are handling the prosecution.