Press Release
TWO BOAT CAPTAINS INDICTED IN CONNECTION WITH DEADLY SMUGGLING OPERATION IN PALM BEACH COUNTY
June 19, 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, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, announced yesterday's indictment of defendants Jimmy Metellus, 39, a Haitian citizen, and Jean Morange Nelson, a/k/a Jean Monique 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. The Indictment charges both defendants with thirteen counts of alien smuggling placing in jeopardy the lives of aliens, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Sections1324(a)(1)(A)(iv), and (B)(iii); nine counts of alien smuggling resulting in death, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Sections1324(a)(1)(A)(iv), and (B)(iv); and one count of aiding the entry of alien aggravated felon, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1327. Nelson is currently scheduled to be arraigned on June 24, 2009, and Metellus to be arraigned on July 1, 2009. Both defendants were ordered detained pending trial.
According to the affidavits in support of the previously 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 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 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 one adult male, seven 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.
If convicted, the maximum penalty for a violation of 1324(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 1327 is up to ten (10) years' imprisonment.
In addition, on June 11, 2009, defendant Harold Anglin, one of survivors of the failed smuggling venture, was charged in a one-count Indictment with illegally re-entering the U.S. after having been deported, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a), with an enhancement for being an alien convicted of a felony, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(b)(2). If convicted, he faces a maximum possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Anglin is detained pending trial.
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.
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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