LA immigrant smuggler gets 6 1/2 years in prison

A federal judge has given a 6 1/2-year prison sentence to a Guatemalan national who helped run a Los Angeles-based ring that smuggled more than 9,000 illegal immigrants through the U.S.

The U.S. attorney's office says 40-year-old Francisco Andres-Francisco was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge George H. King.

Andres-Francisco was arrested 14 months ago in Pennsylvania while driving a van loaded with alleged illegal immigrants.

He pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to harbor, conceal and transport illegal aliens.

Prosecutors say the investigation turned up paperwork showing that the ring transported more than 9,000 illegal immigrants during a four-year period.

A dozen people were indicted and Andres-Francisco is the sixth to plead guilty. Six others remain fugitives.

March 09, 2009 05:36 PM

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