Illegal immigrants plead guilty to drug, gun charges
wistv.com
By Logan Smith
Posted: Aug 23, 2011 6:44 PM EDT

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Two Mexican nationals who were in South Carolina illegally pleaded guilty on Tuesday to several federal charges, prosecutors say.

U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said Jose Pablo Hernandez, 29, of Batesburg and Mexico admitted to being an alien in possession of firearms and ammunition. Laureno Gonzales-Orozco, 33, of Columbia and Mexico, pleaded guilty to being an alien in possession of firearms and ammunition as well as re-entry by a removed alien.

Hernandez and Gonzales-Orozco were arrested on April 15 at a residence on Shealy Road in Batesburg, and were each charged with a state marijuana violation after an investigation revealed a package shipped to that address contained marijuana, according to Nettles.

A search of the residence, which Nettles said belonged to Hernandez, revealed several firearms and ammunition. Further investigation revealed that both Hernandez and Gonzales-Orozco were in the United States illegally.

Nettles said the maximum penalty Hernandez could receive on the firearms charge is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Gonzales-Orozco could receive up to 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, having previously been removed from the United States in 1999 and again in 2007.

http://www.wistv.com/story/15319145/ill ... un-charges