Owner pleads guilty to harboring illegals

The owner of an Iowa City roofing company who fled to Mexico with her family after her arrest has pleaded guilty to harboring illegal immigrants.

Samira Zuniga, 33, a U.S. citizen and Iowa City resident, entered her pleas Monday in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Homeland Security arrested nine illegal immigrants April 26 in Hiawatha at a residential roofing job site, where Zuniga's company, Xtreme Construction, was working.

According to the U.S. Attorney district office in Cedar Rapids, evidence presented at an earlier bond hearing showed Zuniga withdrew several thousand dollars in cash from personal and business accounts and fled to Mexico with her husband, a Mexican citizen, and their two children shortly after the Hiawatha arrests.

Zuniga was arrested June 20 shortly after she returned to the U.S. from Mexico. Zuniga was arrested while she and others were in the process of loading items into a cargo trailer to be taken back to Mexico, where her husband and children remained.

Zuniga was convicted of one count of harboring and transporting an alien, and one count of conspiring with others to harbor, transport and encourage aliens to reside in the U.S. in violation of law.

The U.S. Marshal has her in custody pending sentencing because the court has determined she poses a risk of flight risk.

Sentencing has not been set, but Zuniga faces a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.


http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20 ... 0337/1079/