Illegal immigrant indicted on smuggling charge
Reporter-News staff report
Wednesday, November 12, 2008


A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted an illegal immigrant from Mexico on a charge of transporting illegal aliens.

Adan Mondrangon-Gonzalez has been held without bail since his Oct. 30 arrest. Federal officials fear he may flee if released, court documents show.

Mondragon-Gonzalez allegedly was in the process of transporting six other illegal immigrants to Houston from Phoenix on Oct. 30 when he was stopped by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Interstate 20 in Callahan County. All seven were taken to the Abilene Border Patrol Office, where they were interviewed by an agent with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The six illegal immigrants apparently were smuggled into the U.S. near Nogales, Ariz., and taken to a stage house in Phoenix, where Mondragon-Gonzalez picked them up. They were to pay a fee of between $1,500 and $2,800 each to a smuggler in Mexico, according to a federal criminal complaint.

Officials said Mondragon-Gonzalez admitted that he was transporting the aliens to Houston and told investigators he was to be paid $500 for the service.

The illegal immigrants Mondragon-Gonzalez was transporting also were arrested and are being held as material witnesses in the case against him, officials said.

A federal public defender was appointed Wednesday to Mondragon-Gonzalez.

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