Woman gets 16 months for trying to smuggle girl
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.19.2008
A 22-year-old Mexican woman was sentenced to 16 months in prison this week for trying to smuggle a a 2-year-old girl through a Nogales crossing for money.
On March 6, Ana Lilian Valenzuela-Ramirez, of Nogales, Sonora, came through the pedestrian line at the port with the toddler, who appeared unusually sleepy, a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Valenzuela presented border-crossing cards for herself and the child, who she said was a friend's daughter.
Officers became suspicious, though, after the woman gave conflicting statements about her relationship with the mother and the child's destination in the United States, the release said. When officers instructed Mexican police to bring the girl's parents to the port, Valenzuela admitted the border-crossing card wasn't the girl's and that she had been paid $400 to smuggle her through and give her to a woman in Nogales, Ariz.
Blood and urine tests taken at a hospital showed the girl had slightly elevated levels of Tylenol and aspirin. Both are commonly used by smugglers to sedate children who are being smuggled, the release said.
The girl was turned over to Mexican family-services officials and has since been reunited with her family. Chief U.S. District Judge John M. Roll sentenced Valenzuela to 16 months on Thursday, the release said. Valenzuela will be put in line for deportation after serving time in prison.



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