Sep 11, 2:02 PM EDT

Man pleads guilty to smuggling immigrants in SoCal

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A Mexican man has pleaded guilty in San Diego to running an organization that smuggled migrants through a live bombing range.

Javier Sanchez Perfino entered his plea Thursday to smuggling people through the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Bombing and Gunnery Range in southeastern California and eventually to Los Angeles.

Prosecutors say Perfino paid two U.S. Border Patrol agents nearly $180,000 to release illegal immigrants from federal custody. He was not charged with making those payments, but the two agents pleaded guilty in 2006 to taking them.

The 30-year-old Perfino faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison when he is sentenced Dec. 5.

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