St. Peter Man Sentenced For Transporting Illegal Aliens

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, a St. Peter man was sentenced on one count of transporting illegal aliens. United States District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz sentenced Juan Arrazolo, also known as John Arrazolo, to three years of probation, six months of home confinement and a $2,000 fine. Arrazolo was indicted on April 16, 2012 and pleaded guilty on August 16, 2012.

Following today’s sentencing, Mike Feinberg, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations St. Paul Field Office (“ICE HSI”), said, “Those who transport or harbor illegal aliens require secrecy and often coercion to succeed. ICE HSI has a long history of targeting criminals who seek illegal gain at the expense of the innocent. We work with our state and local law enforcement partners to bring justice to anyone who exploits others for illegal profit.”

In his plea agreement, Arrazolo admitted that between October 2006 and October 2011, he transported two undocumented aliens from Texas to Minnesota to work in his business. Arrazolo’s company, Poultry Service Management, provided manual labor to large corporate chicken farms in Minnesota and the surrounding area. The workers loaded chickens for shipping, vaccinated chickens, trimmed chicken beaks, and provided other general labor as requested by the poultry producers. Arrazolo admitted that one of the individuals he transported was a citizen of Mexico, and that he knew the individual was not a U.S. citizen when he transported him from Texas to Minnesota.

This case was the result of an investigation by ICE HSI, the St. Peter Police Department, the Nicollet County Sheriff’s Office, the LeSueur County Sheriff’s Office, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Steinkamp.