Thread: One Jamaican migrant dies, 11 pulled from sea

One Jamaican migrant dies, 11 pulled from sea

BySonja Isger
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 9:44 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Posted: 8:23 a.m. Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A boat that capsized off Palm Beach County shores Wednesday morning, killing one person and sending another to the hospital, apparently was ferrying migrants who were trying to enter the country illegally from Jamaica, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

A Coast Guard cutter spotted the 24-foot boat running without its navigational lights at 2:30 a.m. about 24 miles off of Delray Beach.

Coast Guard crews reported seeing a crowd emerge from the boat's lower cabin.

At 4:30 a.m. the boat capsized about 12 miles east of Riviera Beach, sending all aboard into the water.

The Coast Guard pulled 11 people out, sending one to shore at the Riviera Beach Marina to be checked out at a hospital, the Coast Guard reported.

A four-hour search began for a woman reported missing by those rescued.

Her body was found underneath the capsized vessel before 9 a.m. by Palm Beach County Sheriff's divers.

Ten of those rescued, who claimed Jamaican nationality, were in good condition, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard and other agencies are investigating the circumstances of the apparent migrant-smuggling voyage.

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Boat captain faces death penalty in ill-fated smuggling operation

ByJane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 6:19 p.m. Friday, July 1, 2011

Posted: 6:07 p.m. Friday, July 1, 2011

WEST PALM BEACH — A 25-year-old boat captain faces the death penalty in connection with an ill-fated June 14 immigrant smuggling operation that left a pregnant woman dead and another woman critically injured.

Tarran Maynard was indicted this week after telling investigators he was paid $10,000 to ferry 11 Bahamian, Jamaican and Haitian nationals from Freeport, Bahamas to South Florida. He told federal agents the money was lost when the 24-foot boat capsized about 12 miles off Riviera Beach.

Maynard said a man he identified as "Biggs" threatened to harm him and his family if he didn't take the job, court records show. He later identified Biggs as Andrew Smith, who was one of the passengers.

Smith, 37, was also indicted this week. He and four other Jamaicans are charged with trying to re-enter the country illegally after being deported for having felony convictions. All face a maximum 20 years in prison.

Maynard is charged with 28 separate crimes because of the number of people aboard the boat. The most serious charge - encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the U.S. resulting in death - is punishable by life imprisonment or death.

After the U.S. Coast Guard plucked 11 of people out of the water, they discovered the body of a woman, later identified as Jeanne Pierre, under the boat that capsized after the engine failed. Another woman, Shoudna Charles, didn't have a pulse when she was rescued, agents said. She was taken to an unidentified hospital where, as of June 16, she was in critical condition.

The six who were indicted are in federal custody. In addition to Maynard and Smith, they are: Patrick Campbell, 33, Basil Barker, no age available, Anthony Smith, 43, and Gary Mitchell, 40.

There was no information about the current whereabouts of the four others who were rescued. Two of them were children. The other two were identified as Nickardo Bailey and Edwige Silvain.

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