Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Transporting Illegal Alien

BANGOR, Maine: A Florida man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Bangor to transporting an illegal alien.

According to court records, in September 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol learned that a woman had been seen walking from Canada into the United States at the international border near Lowelltown — a remoted, wooded area in Franklin County with a history of smuggling activity. At the same time, a black SUV was seen heading towards the woman’s location. A short time later, U.S. Border Patrol agents pulled over the SUV. Agents identified the driver as John Boniello, 40, and the female passenger as a French citizen who did not have legal status in the U.S. Boniello admitted that he had traveled from Florida to Maine to pick up the woman and that he knew she could not legally enter the U.S.

Boniello faces up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigative report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.

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