Human smuggler gets year in prison
By Ann Schrader The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 10/17/2007 03:10:57 PM MDT


A man arrested in April for allegedly smuggling 10 people from Mexico into Colorado has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Gopsalo Jose-Reyes, 36, pleaded guilty Oct. 10 to criminal impersonation for giving officers a false name after employees of the King Soopers at West 32nd Avenue and Youngfield Street noticed several people washing up in the store's restroom and called police.

Initially, he also was charged with 10 counts of human smuggling, but the charges were dropped because those who were smuggled could not be located.

The new human-smuggling law "can be difficult to prosecute because those people who are smuggled across the border are witnesses to the crime and are released prior to the case being filed," said Jeffco District Attorney Scott Storey. "Hopefully, the legislature will address this problem in their next session."

Jose-Reyes admitted to police that he was in the country illegally and that he charged people $500 to $1,000 each to be smuggled across the border.

Judge Lily Oeffler gave Jose-Reyes an 18-month prison sentence but suspended six months on the condition that he not return to the United States without proper legal paperwork.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold has been placed on Jose-Reyes. After he serves his prison sentence, he will be deported.

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_7204805