Nov 5, 2:59 PM EST

Child smuggler sentenced to federal prison

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A federal judge in Tucson on Wednesday sentenced a 50-year-old Mexican woman to 15 months in prison for attempting to smuggle a child over the border for profit.

Federal prosecutors say Maria de los Angeles Millanes-Blanco of Nogales, Mexico, tried to enter the United States on July 7, 2008, at Nogales, Ariz., with an 8-year-old girl.

Federal agents became suspicious when Millanes-Blanco presented a laser visa of a child who did not resemble the young smuggling victim.

It was later determined the child was actually a Mexican citizen with no authorization to be in the U.S.

Millanes-Blanco also admitted that she was to be paid $150 to take the child across the border and deliver her to an unknown woman.

The smuggled child was turned over to Mexican family services and has been reunited with her family.

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