Press Release
HIALEAH MAN SENTENCED IN CONNECTION WITH MIGRANT SMUGGLING OPERATION
June 9, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Investigations, announced that defendant Jovel Dominguez-Hernandez, 28, of Hialeah, FL, was sentenced on June 8,2009, by U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra to 36 months in prison, to be followed by 24 months of supervised release, on charges of human smuggling, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324.
According to documents filed with the Court, at approximately 10:00 PM on January 26, 2009, a Palm Beach Sherriff's Department (PBSO) Marine Unit spotted a vessel traveling without navigation lights in the area of Boynton Beach Inlet. As the deputies attempted to catch up with the vessel, the vessel turned and ran aground. Numerous individuals and the captain bailed from the vessel. A subsequent search of the area led to the recovery of 7 Haitian migrants and 1 migrant from Sierra Leone. Jovel Dominguez-Hernandez, the captain of the vessel, was located, arrested and charged for smuggling migrants from the Bahamas to the United States. He later admitted that he smuggled the migrants for $3,000.
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of ICE's Office of Investigations in Ft. Pierce. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John McMillan.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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