Man caught transporting illegal immigrants gets 13 months

Posted: Jun 14, 2012 6:25 AM PDT Updated: Jun 14, 2012 6:43 AM PDT

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - A U.S. District Court judge in Sioux City has sentenced a Californian for hauling illegal immigrants across the country.

The Sioux City Journal says (Man caught transporting illegal immigrants in Onawa, Iowa, gets 13 months : Sioux City Journal) 24-year-old Maurelio Diaz-Alfonso, of Riverside, Calif., had pleaded guilty in March. He was sentenced on Tuesday to 13 months in prison.

Diaz-Alfonso was arrested after a traffic stop on Interstate 29 near Onawa in western Iowa. A state trooper who pulled over the sport utility vehicle Diaz-Alfonso was driving searched it and found 12 people inside. They were illegal immigrants.

Diaz-Alfonso later told federal agents that he was paid to drive his passengers from Mesa, Ariz., to Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York.

Information from: Sioux City Journal, Sioux City Journal

Man caught transporting illegal immigrants gets 13 months - FOX 10 News - Phoenix, AZ | KSAZ-TV