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August 23, 2006

Immigrant smuggling case ends

By Jon Murray
jon.murray@indystar.com
The last of three men who held about 20 illegal immigrants in a Far Southside apartment pleaded guilty this morning to one charge of criminal confinement.

Rolando Marcial-Hernandez, 25, will spend three years in community corrections programs, starting at the Marion County Jail annex. But the other two men, who pleaded guilty to the same charge last week, were released from jail on probation.

Prosecutors said Marcial-Hernandez, Jose DeJesus Palacios, 33, and Sergio Felix-Martinez, 30, were part of an illegal immigrant smuggling ring. They used a one-bedroom apartment in Indianapolis as a way station, and the immigrants were driven to Indianapolis from Phoenix.

The men shook the immigrants down for more money, prosecutors said, and threatened to kill them if they tried to escape.

Judge Patricia J. Gifford said Marcial-Hernandez deserved a stronger sentence because of his criminal record, which included drunken driving and public intoxication charges last year. Marion County Community Corrections will decide when to shift Marcial-Hernandez into the work-release, home detention or daily reporting programs.

“I would hope this serves as a warning, as this is not something Marion County takes lightly,” said Mary Garner, a deputy prosecutor, about human trafficking.


Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-2752.