Press Releases
ILLEGAL ALIEN PLEADS GUILTY TO BEING A STOWAWAY ON A VESSEL
June 24, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CARLOS ALBERTO CUERO, age 35, a resident of Colombia, pled guilty in federal court today before U. S. District Court Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. to a two-count superseding indictment charging him with being a stowaway on a vessel and illegal reentry of a removed alien, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to the factual basis, on December 22, 2008, CUERO secreted himself aboard the motor vessel M/V Warta, in Honduras, outside the jurisdiction of the United States, without the consent of the owner, charterer, master and person in command and remained aboard until the vessel entered St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. CUERO also admitted that he was an alien who had previously been removed and deported from the United States.
On the stowaway count, CUERO faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five (5) years, a fine of $250,000.00, a $100 special assessment, and three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. With regard to the illegal reentry of a removed alien, CUERO faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years, a fine of $250,000.00 and three (3) years of supervised release. Sentencing is set for September 16, 2009 at 9:00 A.M.
The case was investigated by the United States Customs and Border Protection. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U. S. Attorney Robert Weir.
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