Guatemalan Sentenced in AZ Human Smuggling Cases

Updated: Friday, 04 Mar 2011, 4:46 AM MST
Published : Friday, 04 Mar 2011, 4:46 AM MST

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A Guatemalan man has been sentenced to nearly 3½ years in federal prison in two separate human smuggling cases in Arizona.

Prosecutors said one of Mateo Lorenzo Sebastian-Juan's operations in 2004 led to the death of a Guatemalan woman in the southern Arizona desert near Three Points.

A U.S. District Court judge on Thursday sentenced Sebastian-Juan to a 41-month prison term for conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal immigrants for the purpose of commercial advantage.

The 35-year-old Sebastian-Juan pleaded guilty in the cases last August.

Border Patrol agents found the dead woman's body in July 2004 in an area north of Three Points, which is in Pima County.

Sebastian-Juan was charged, but fled before he could stand trial. Federal authorities said he was found last year and arrested.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/im ... 8-03042011