Jury Convicts Man of Transporting Aliens

ALBANY, NEW YORK – A jury voted yesterday to convict Wanxiang Chen, age 28, of transporting aliens in the United States for the purpose of financial gain.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and United States Border Patrol Acting Division Chief Bradley S. Curtis.

Chen, a Chinese national who was residing in Flushing, Queens, was found guilty of transporting two Chinese people who were in the country illegally.  On August 11, 2015, he picked them up from the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino in Hogansburg, New York, and was driving them when Border Patrol stopped his car in Fort Covington.  The evidence at trial demonstrated that Chen had made three prior smuggling trips, transporting aliens from the casino to New York City in exchange for cash payments.

Chen faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years when he is sentenced on July 14, 2016 by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

This case was investigated by the United States Border Patrol and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Collyer.