El Paso hotel owner convicted of human trafficking

2011 The Associated Press
Feb. 8, 2011, 6:46PM

EL PASO — Three men, including the owner of a downtown El Paso hotel, have been convicted of conspiring to smuggle and harbor illegal immigrants.

A statement issued Tuesday by federal prosecutors says Gateway Hotel owner Song U. Chon, desk clerk Alejandro Rico and Manuel Cardoza each face up to 10 years in prison for their convictions.

Chon also faces up to 20 years in prison for a money laundering conviction and up to 15 years in prison for making false statements.

A federal jury in El Paso returned their verdicts Friday. Prosecutors alleged the men used the hotel and other facilities in El Paso to smuggle immigrants illegally for fees of $2,000 from 2003 to 2009. The three men were the last of 25 defendants to be convicted in the case.


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