DeKalb Resident Indicted on Charges of Smuggling, Transporting and Harboring Illegal Aliens

ROCKFORD — A DeKalb resident, LUIS ALFREDO DELACRUZ, 49, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Rockford on two counts of bringing aliens to the United States at a place other than a designated port of entry for commercial advantage or private financial gain, two counts of bringing aliens to the U.S. at a place other than a designated port of entry, two counts of transporting illegal aliens within the U.S. for commercial advantage or private financial gain, and eight counts of harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage or private financial gain.

Delacruz will appear for arraignment on April 23, 2019, at 11:00 a.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston in Rockford.

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and James M. Gibbons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.  The DeKalb Police Department assisted in the investigation. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph C. Pedersen.

As alleged in the indictment, in November 2015 and April 2016, Delacruz brought to the United States two alien individuals who had not received prior official authorization to enter.  Delacruz did not bring the individuals through immigration at a designated port of entry, the indictment states.  It is further alleged that on June 1, 2018, Delacruz illegally harbored eight illegal aliens in buildings or other places through employment by Alfredo’s Iron Works in Cortland.  Delacruz allegedly harbored these aliens for commercial advantage and his own financial gain.

Each count of bringing aliens to the United States at a place other than a designated port of entry for commercial advantage or private financial gain carries a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison and a maximum of ten years.  Each count of bringing aliens to the U.S. at a place other than a designated port of entry carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  Each count of transporting illegal aliens within the U.S. for commercial advantage or private financial gain and each count of harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage or private financial gain carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.  Each count in the indictment also carries a maximum fine of $250,000, and a period of supervised release following imprisonment of up to three years.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. 

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.