Press Release
SECOND CAPTAIN OF CAPSIZED BOAT ARRESTED AND CHARGED
June 9, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Investigations, Rear Admiral Steve Branham, Commander, 7th Coast Guard District, and Harold Woodward, Direct of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, announced the arrest of defendant Jean Morange Nelson, 32, a Haitian citizen, in connection with the failed migrant smuggling operation that resulted in the deaths of ten Haitian nationals on May 13, 2009. Specifically, Nelson was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy and alien smuggling, which resulted in the death of various migrants, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Sections1324(a)(1)(A)(iv), (B)(iii) and (iv), and 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I).
In addition, on May 18, 2009, ICE special agents arrested Jimmy Metellus, 33, a Haitian citizen, on the same charges. On May 29, 2009, ICE agents arrested Harold Anglin, a Jamaican citizen, on charges of illegal re-entry into the U.S. after deportation, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Sections 1326(a) and (b)(1), an enhancement for an alien convicted of a felony.
As set forth in the affidavit in support of the filed complaints, defendants Metellus and Nelson were two of the captains of the migrant smuggling vessel that sank off the Palm Beach county coast during the morning of May 13, 2009. The complaint alleges that Nelson, Metellus and two other captains left the Bahamas on May 9, 2009, on a boat with Haitian migrants bound for the U.S. The boat began to have mechanical problems and was adrift for three days. Associates of the smugglers arranged for fuel to be delivered to the boat, and guided it to a house in Bimini, Bahamas. In Bimini, the migrants were allegedly taken off the vessel while the boat was repaired. The next night, the migrants, including Anglin, were reloaded on the boat, and the boat departed for the U.S. A Good Samaritan reported to the U.S. Coast Guard seeing people in the water approximately 16 miles east of Palm Beach County, FL, in the early morning hours of May 13, 2009.
After a massive search and rescue operation conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard, sixteen survivors, including Metellus and Nelson, and ten deceased have been identified as having been on the boat. The ten deceased migrants include two adult males, six adult females, one infant, and one unborn viable fetus. None of the survivors had visas or other travel documentation for admission into the U.S., nor were any such documents found in the nearby waters.
Nelson had his initial appearance in court earlier today in West Palm Beach, FL, before U.S. Magistrate Judge James M. Hopkins. His detention hearing is scheduled for Monday, June 15. Metellus's next scheduled court date is an arraignment on July 1, 2009. Anglin is currently scheduled to be arraigned on June 15, 2009.
If convicted, the maximum penalty for a violation of 1342(a)(1)(A)(iv) and (B)(iii) is up to twenty (20) years' imprisonment; the maximum penalty for a violation of 1342(a)(1)(A)(iv) and (B)(iv) is a possible sentence of death; and the maximum penalty for a violation of 1326(a) and (b)(1) is up to ten (10) years' imprisonment.
Mr. Sloman commended the efforts of ICE's Office of Investigations in West Palm Beach with the assistance of Container Security Initiative (CSI) Office of Investigations in Freeport, Bahamas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Field Operations and CBP Air and Marine, the USCG 7th Coast Guard District, the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for their work in the search and rescue and the subsequent criminal investigation of this matter. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carolyn Bell and Adrienne Rabinowitz.
Attachments:
Complaint (PDF)
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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