Mexican Man Charged With Smuggling Immigrants
POSTED: 11:27 am PDT October 29, 2007
UPDATED: 11:41 am PDT October 29, 2007


Jesus Miranda-Virgin

PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- A Mexican man was caught smuggling 17 illegal immigrants on Saturday, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said.

Officials said a sergeant patrolling Interstate 17 near Camp Verde pulled over a speeding Ford F-150 around 8:45 p.m. The pickup had Tennessee plates and a camper shell with blacked-out windows.

The driver of the pickup, 33-year-old Jesus Miranda-Virgin, had no driver's license and identified himself with a Mexican ID card, according to YCSO.

There were three female passengers in the cab, none of whom spoke English.

Miranda-Virgin told the sergeant he was coming from Phoenix and was taking his wife and friends to Flagstaff to find work, according to YCSO.

When the sergeant asked how many people were in the bed of the pickup, Virgin said there were 13. The sergeant opened the camper shell and found 13 men and one woman, the Sheriff's Office said.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent interviewed the 17 passengers and determined that 13 were from Mexico and four were from Guatemala. Only one spoke English.

The passengers were transported to the Camp Verde Jail, where they were picked up by ICE around 11:30 p.m.

Miranda-Virgin was charged with 17 counts of human smuggling and is being held without bond.
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