Colombian Man Sentenced to 18 Months for Alien Smuggling

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Diego Guisao-Zapata, age 41, a citizen of Colombia, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert N. Garcia of the United States Border Patrol, Swanton Sector, made the announcement.

As part of his earlier guilty plea, Guisao-Zapata, an illegal alien who entered the United States unlawfully in 2023, admitted that on August 25, 2024, he traveled to the northern border in Churubusco, New York, where he smuggled two people – one from Mexico, the other from the Dominican Republic – into the United States for profit. Guisao-Zapata admitted that he had smuggled other people across the border in the past.

Guisao-Zapata will be taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for removal proceedings, following his release from prison.

United States Border Patrol investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Paulbeck prosecuted the case.