Thread: OR-Two sentenced to prison, running bus service for illegals

Two sentenced to prison for running bus service for illegal immigrants
By Bryan Denson
November 30, 2009, 4:16PM

The wheels of justice turned swiftly for a Los Angeles couple caught operating a bus service for illegal immigrants in Medford.

In June, government prosecutors charged Nabor Castaneda-Cortez, 31, and Norma Delia Lopez-Ramirez, 37, with illegally transporting nine people after federal agents stopped them at an Interstate 5 rest stop.

Today, Senior U.S. District Judge Owen M. Panner sentenced them to prison terms of 1 year, 3 months for transporting illegal aliens for financial gain.

The government accused Castaneda-Cortez and Lopez-Ramirez, both formerly of Mexico, of operating as "rieteros." It's a term used by federal agents to describe those who, for a fee, transport people who sneak into the United States from Mexico, often after using the services of "coyotes" who smuggle them over the border.

The six adults and three children whom Castanada and and Ramirez were transporting were headed to towns in Oregon and Washington, including Beaverton, Woodburn and Pasco.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/inde ... or_ru.html

The couple were arrested in June at Valley of the Rogue rest stop with nine immigrants in a van


December 01, 2009

By Mark Freeman

A Mexican couple who operated a business transporting illegal immigrants north along the Interstate 5 corridor were sentenced Monday to 15 months in federal prison for bringing nine illegal immigrants into Jackson County in June.

In U.S. District Court in Medford, U.S. District Judge Owen M. Panner sentenced Nabor Castenada-Cortez, 31, and Normal Delia Lopez-Ramirez, 37, on charges of transporting illegal aliens for financial gain.

The pair were arrested June 17 by agents from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Valley of the Rogue rest stop between Gold Hill and Rogue River on I-5. The couple were in the rest area to deliver an illegal immigrant to members of his family who lived in Medford, court records show.

A tip led investigators to the rest area, where they found Castenada-Cortez and Lopez-Ramirez in a van with nine illegal immigrants —including three minors — who were all en route to various locations in Oregon and Washington, according to a federal affidavit.

The group was in a Dodge Caravan, with Lopez-Ramirez behind the wheel and Castenada-Cortez in the front passenger seat, with the nine passengers crammed in the back, the affidavit states.

Castenada-Cortez told investigators that the pair worked out of Los Angeles, where they picked up newly smuggled immigrants and delivered them to family members throughout Oregon and Washington, records show.

The couple told federal investigators that they were paid $150 to $200 for each alien as they worked as so-called "rieteros" in what amounts to a busing service for illegal immigrants once they've reached the United States, records show.

The immigrants arrested in the couple's van told federal agents they paid anywhere from $250 to more than $4,000 to be smuggled across the border and delivered to their final destinations, the affidavit states.

Castenada-Cortez told investigators that he was an illegal immigrant himself and was smuggled across the Mexican border near San Ysidro, Calif., in 2006. Lopez-Ramirez also confessed to entering the United States illegally.

Castenada-Cortez also told investigators that the economic downturn had hurt his business, forcing him to sell one of his transport vans. He said he and his wife were transporting the nine people because he could not afford to pay drivers, records show.

A search of Lopez-Ramirez's belongings revealed a ledger listing the names of the immigrants, how much money they spent and their final destinations, records show.

The couple each pleaded guilty to the single federal charge Sept. 14 in federal court in Medford.

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at mfreeman@mailtribune.com.

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 5/-1/rss01