Trenton, New Jersey Man Pleads Not Guilty to Human Smuggling Charges

Burlington, Vermont – The United States Attorney’s Office stated that Victor Francisco Lopez-Padilla, 35, of Trenton, New Jersey, will be arraigned in the District of Vermont before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle on August 29, 2023. He is charged in a two-count indictment that alleges he and codefendant Simon Jacinto-Ramos conspired to commit human-smuggling offenses and brought a migrant without legal status to the United States for the purpose of private financial gain. Lopez-Padilla was arrested in Trenton on August 1, 2023, and was seen for an initial appearance in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey before being transferred to the District of Vermont for further proceedings. Jacinto-Ramos has not yet been arrested in conjunction with the indictment. An arraignment will be scheduled after his arrest.

According to court records, Lopez-Padilla and Jacinto-Ramos, a resident of Montreal, worked together to bring migrants to, and smuggle them into, the United States for their personal profit, while knowing that the migrants lacked legal status to enter and remain in the United States. The defendants arranged transportation for the smuggled migrants from the Montreal area to a remote area of the border between the United States and Canada near Richford, Vermont. They provided a route for the migrants to follow on foot, and they tracked the migrants’ progress via cell phone mapping programs. The defendants then arranged transportation for the migrants in the United States in furtherance of their illegal entry. The United States Border Patrol intercepted at least four such smuggling events between April 2022 and June 2023 that appeared to agents to have been organized by the defendants based on phone data and witness interviews, and those events involved at least 23 smuggled migrants in total.

The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that an indictment contains allegations only and that Lopez-Padilla remains presumed innocent unless and until he is convicted of a crime. Lopez-Padilla faces a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment and a minimum sentence of 3 years if convicted as charged. The actual sentence would be determined with reference to Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the investigative efforts of the United States Border Patrol and thanked Homeland Security Investigations and the New Jersey State Police for their support of Border Patrol in the apprehension of Lopez-Padilla.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Lasher is handling the prosecution of Lopez-Padilla and Jacinto-Ramos. Lopez-Padilla is represented by Devin McLaughlin, Esq.