Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 23, 2006 5:56:01 GMT -5
KFOXTV.com
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales visited the borderland Thursday with one of his focuses being an April 27 smuggling case involving a 14-year-old girl.
"A few weeks ago, a young girl was found dead in the back seat of a van," Gonzales said.
The van was in a driveway belonging to a man named Jose Alfredo Sifuentes-Sandoval, according to officials.
Sifuentes had called 911 and told officials he found the girl along Texas Highway 20.
"At the time of their arrival, they found her non-responsive in the back of the Sifuentes van. So, Sifuentes at that time stated that he and another person had found the young girl on the side of Highway Texas 20, which is how she got the nickname Texas 20 girl," said Brandy Gardes, U.S. assistant district attorney.
Yet, through an investigation, the teen was identified by her mother, who said she had paid Sifuentes thousands of dollars to smuggle her daughter into the United States.
Authorities said the teen had a pre-existing medical condition and fell ill when she arrived in the United States near Fabens.
"The autopsy showed that she died of a pulmonary embolism, which is very rare in a 14-year-old girl," Gardes said.
The 14-year-old girl is just one of the many smuggling cases law enforcement officials have found along the border, a situation the attorney general said he hopes to change by prosecuting the smugglers to the fullest extent of the law.
"This kind of reckless disregard for life is unacceptable, and we will prosecute such cases to the fullest extent," Gonzales said.
The indictment against Sifuentes includes charges of smuggling for profit and smuggling resulting in aggravated death.
The U.S. government has not decided if it will seek the death penalty in this case. Meanwhile, it is asking Mexican authorities for its help in seeking extradition for Sifuentes' alleged associate, who was last seen in Juarez, Mexico. The woman, Amilia Baquera, faces charges of conspiracy and is said to be a part of a smuggling ring with Sifuentes.
Source : KFOXTV.com
www.kfoxtv.com/news/9552750/detail.html
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales visited the borderland Thursday with one of his focuses being an April 27 smuggling case involving a 14-year-old girl.
"A few weeks ago, a young girl was found dead in the back seat of a van," Gonzales said.
The van was in a driveway belonging to a man named Jose Alfredo Sifuentes-Sandoval, according to officials.
Sifuentes had called 911 and told officials he found the girl along Texas Highway 20.
"At the time of their arrival, they found her non-responsive in the back of the Sifuentes van. So, Sifuentes at that time stated that he and another person had found the young girl on the side of Highway Texas 20, which is how she got the nickname Texas 20 girl," said Brandy Gardes, U.S. assistant district attorney.
Yet, through an investigation, the teen was identified by her mother, who said she had paid Sifuentes thousands of dollars to smuggle her daughter into the United States.
Authorities said the teen had a pre-existing medical condition and fell ill when she arrived in the United States near Fabens.
"The autopsy showed that she died of a pulmonary embolism, which is very rare in a 14-year-old girl," Gardes said.
The 14-year-old girl is just one of the many smuggling cases law enforcement officials have found along the border, a situation the attorney general said he hopes to change by prosecuting the smugglers to the fullest extent of the law.
"This kind of reckless disregard for life is unacceptable, and we will prosecute such cases to the fullest extent," Gonzales said.
The indictment against Sifuentes includes charges of smuggling for profit and smuggling resulting in aggravated death.
The U.S. government has not decided if it will seek the death penalty in this case. Meanwhile, it is asking Mexican authorities for its help in seeking extradition for Sifuentes' alleged associate, who was last seen in Juarez, Mexico. The woman, Amilia Baquera, faces charges of conspiracy and is said to be a part of a smuggling ring with Sifuentes.
Source : KFOXTV.com
www.kfoxtv.com/news/9552750/detail.html